While Americans are split as to the seriousness of former President Donald Trump's trial in New York, less than a quarter think he will see jail time, a recent poll shows.
According to an Economist/YouGov poll, 22% of the 1,813 respondents think Trump will be convicted, while 34% think he won't and 44% are not sure.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
When broken down by party, the sharp divide among Americans' view of the trial becomes clear: 90% of Democrats said the ongoing trial was serious, while only 25% of Republicans felt it was. Half of independents said it was serious.
When asked whether Trump should be convicted, 81% of Democrats felt he should be, while 6% of Republicans said he should. Forty-two percent of independents said Trump should go to prison.
The YouGov polling from a month prior showed that Democrats were 16 percentage points more likely than Republicans to say they were following the trial. Now the numbers are almost even with 49% of Republicans saying they've heard a lot about the case compared to 52% of Democrats. YouGov noted that number represents a 14-point increase in Republican interest in the trial.
The poll was conducted conducted May 5-7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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