Most Republicans in new poll believe Trump’s legal cases are being handled ‘unfairly’

A majority of Republicans in a recent poll say they believe former President Trump’s investigations are being conducted “unfairly.”

The new survey, released Friday by YouGov, found that among the four criminal indictments that Trump is facing, more than 66 percent of Republicans believe the cases are being handled “unfairly.” This is compared to 70 percent of Democrats who disagreed, saying the opposite.

Broken down by case, more respondents pointed to the federal election subversion case — which is related to Trump’s alleged efforts to remain in power and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — as being conducted unfairly, with 73 percent of Republicans saying so. His election case in Georgia, centered on charges related to violations of the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, came in second with 71 percent of Republicans saying it was handled unfairly.

Roughly 67 percent of survey takers said the New York hush money case was being mishandled, while the classified documents case, where the former president has been indicted on 40 charges related to unauthorized possession after leaving the White House and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them, drew the lowest disapproval from GOP voters, with 66 percent saying it is being handled unfairly, per the survey.

When asked about the fairness of each case, at least 40 percent of U.S. adult citizens as a whole said they are handled fairly. 

YouGov also found that a majority of Americans believe the four cases are at least somewhat serious, possibly excluding the hush-money case that drew 28 percent while the rest received at least 41 percent.

Democrats were more likely than independents or Republicans to say each case is serious Respondents were also more likely to say Trump should be convicted, but less believed he would be, according to the survey.

Overall, the numbers have stayed relatively the same since the survey was last conducted in December.

Trump’s web of legal troubles will play out in courtrooms across the country this year in the midst of his campaign to return to the White House. He is defending himself against a total of 91 criminal charges spread across the four indictments. Separately, he is also a party in more than a half-dozen civil lawsuits.

The YouGov poll was conducted online from Jan 25-29 among 1,000 U.S. adult citizens and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.