A president on trial? Many voters want Trump to face charges, even if he's elected
WASHINGTON – A majority of Americans think it would be “wrong” for Donald Trump to have the Justice Department drop federal charges against him if he wins back the White House, according to a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll.
Legal observers say there's no chance a Trump Justice Department would continue the two federal cases he has asked judges to dismiss as a "witch hunt" led by a prosecutor he calls "deranged." But nearly 58% of likely voters who responded to the poll said it would be "wrong" for Trump to direct the department to drop the charges, compared to 30% saying it would be the "right" thing to do. Nearly one in 10 were undecided.
A similar majority, 56%, said federal and state prosecutors should continue to pursue charges against Trump if he loses to Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5, compared to 38% opposed, according to the poll. Nearly 5% were undecided.
The poll of 1,000 likely voters, taken by landline and cellphone Oct. 14-18, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Some voters talked about the importance of treating Trump like anyone else accused of a crime.
“For him to dismiss the charges against himself or put somebody in who will dismiss it is almost more of a crime than what he actually did,” said Steve Morrissey, 60, an engineer in Omaha, Nebraska, who supports Harris. “No one should be above the law. It should move forward like it does for anybody else.”
But the poll sparked responses as polarized as the campaign. Some voters worried about the chaos and uncharted territory of having criminal charges pending against the president while he serves in office.
Cullie Gentry, 35, of Rankin, Texas, who works in oilfields and supports Trump, said it would be better to drop charges against the former president whether he wins or loses.
“I think absolutely that he should get rid of those charges,” Gentry said. “It’s dangerous. We’re living like a Third World country, where you prosecute your political opponent.”
The pending cases against Trump include:
Sentencing Nov. 26 – when Trump could be president-elect – for his felony conviction in New York on charges he falsified business records to hide payment to a porn actress before the 2016 election.
Trials pending in federal District Court in Washington and in Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia on charges he tried to steal the 2020 election.
A federal judge dismissed charges in Florida that Trump mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House. Prosecutors have appealed that decision.
The responses to the USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll followed other polls that found voters concerned that Trump had broken the law, and that it could affect their votes.
A Pew Research Center poll in September found 46% of voters said Trump broke the law to change the outcome of the 2020 election, and another 14% said he did something wrong but didn’t break the law, The results were largely unchanged since April.
An ABC News poll in May found half the respondents (52%) thought the New York hush money charges against Trump were significant, with one in five saying they would reconsider their support for him if convicted. Trump was convicted later that month.
Trump's lawyers have argued that if he wins the election, any trials would have to wait until after he was finished serving his term. Judges in the cases haven't yet ruled on that issue. Trump has also said he could pardon himself or fire the prosecutor, Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, in the two federal cases.
Marcy Michaels, a retired nurse in Verona, Pennsylvania, who supports Trump, said she thought the charges would be dropped if he loses because she believes they were pursued aggressively to prevent Trump from campaigning for reelection. She said she doubted Smith would have pursued an indictment if someone else were the Republican nominee, although Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland said the indictments resulted from following the facts and the law.
"I think the aggressiveness of pursuing these charges was directly related to how well he was doing with the polling to become the nominee," Michaels said. "Sadly, I think it’s politically motivated.”
Windy Rhoads, a temp worker for Santa Cruz County in California who supports Harris, said she expects Trump to push the Justice Department to drop the charges if he’s elected. But she would like to see the federal election interference trial go forward.
“I think that case is very strong. He incited a coup and he invited people to come on Jan. 6,” Rhoads said. “I believe he would have walked down to the Capitol with them, if the Secret Service had allowed him.” Trump's driver on Jan. 6, 2021, testified to a congressional committee that Trump asked to be driven to the Capitol that day, but the Secret Service prevented it.
Mara Mamerow, a software developer in Milwaukee who supports Harris, said she has a tough time envisioning how a president could serve with felony charges hanging over him.
“Do I think that he should have those charges pursued? Yes,” Mamerow said. “But I can’t wrap my head around it.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: If Trump wins, many Americans still think he should face charges