Poll: Most Americans believe Trump should be prosecuted, but a Biden-Trump rematch is a dead heat

The majority of Americans believe that former President Donald Trump should be prosecuted on criminal charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results, according to a new Quinnipiac University national poll. However, the same poll places Trump and President Joe Biden in a dead heat among voters considering next year”™s election.

Regarding the indictments of Trump”™s actions after the 2020 election, the poll found 54% of respondents stating he should be prosecuted while 42% felt he should not face criminal charges.
The sentiment for prosecution was higher among Democrats (95% in favor, 5% opposed) and independents (57% to 37%), while an overwhelming majority of Republicans opposed prosecution (85% to 12%).

Nearly half of respondents (49%) said the federal charges relating to Trump”™s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election had no impact on their view of the former president, while 37% said it makes them think less favorably of him and 12% said it makes them think more favorably of him. The poll was conducted Aug. 10-14, ahead of Monday night”™s announcement of state-level indictments against Trump in Georgia.

However, Trump”™s legal problems are having no impact on his attempts to regain the presidency. The Quinnipiac University poll found him with 57% support among Republican and Republican leaning voters. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis received 18%, his lowest level since Quinnipiac began polling voters on the 2024 Republic primary. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy received 5% support, former Vice President Mike Pence received 4% support and former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie each received 3% support.

On the Democratic side, Biden received 72% support among Democrats and Democratic leaning voters, while attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received 13% and author Marianne Williamson snagged 9%.

But in a hypothetical general election matchup between the current and former presidents, Biden received 47% support and Trump generated 46%. The new poll suggests Biden”™s appeal is weakening ”“ in last month”™s Quinnipiac poll, Biden had a 49% to 44% edge over Trump.

The poll surveyed 1,818 adults, with a margin of sampling error of +/- 2.3 percentage points.

Photo: Gage Skidmore / Flickr Creative Commons