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Poll: Majority Says Trump Should Drop Out of Presidential Race

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...5980d64c&ei=19

A strong majority of 56% of Americans think former President Donald Trump should drop out of the 2024 presidential race because of his second indictment involving his alleged "willful" possession of classified documents, according to a poll released Friday by the Marist institute of Public Opinion.

But Republicans largely say they'll stick with him anyway, if he chooses to stick it out and seek the Oval Office job again, according to the survey.

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The poll was taken after Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith announced 37 charges involving Trump's possession of classified documents and his refusal to hand them over despite requests, a subpoena and a search of his Mar-a-Lago home by federal agents – a historic and unprecedented federal indictment of a former commander in chief.

But the survey found that a partisan thread remains woven through the most recent Trump drama, with a devoted segment of his Republican Party saying the charges won't keep them from backing the current front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination. Even though an overwhelming majority of the public as a whole thinks Trump did something illegal or at least wrong, Republicans aren't letting it affect their votes.

The poll found that 64% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they will continue to support Trump if he remains in the race, while 32% of Republicans say they plan to support another GOP candidate in the increasingly crowded primary.

Buttressing Trump's own claims that his legal woes only make him more appealing to his base, the survey found that 76% of Republicans have a favorable opinion of Trump, up from 68% who felt that way in February.

Since the winter, Trump has lost a civil case brought by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, with a jury finding Trump committed "sexual abuse" of her and defamed her. That jury said Trump should pay Carroll $5 million.

In March, Trump was indicted by a grand jury in New York on charges related to his hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. And more indictments, including federal charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol and a Georgia case related to whether the former president attempted to overturn the 2020 election results in the swing state.

But Trump's mounting legal problems, while solidifying the views of his political critics, aren't deterring Republican voters and may even be helping Trump, who has cast himself as the victim of a political "witch hunt."

On the question of whether Trump should stay in the race, 56% say no and 43% said yes, the Poughkeepsie-based, independent Marist poll found. The group wanting Trump to leave the race includes 87% of Democrats and 58% of independents. But among Republicans, 83% say the twice-impeached and twice-indicted Trump should stay in the fight for the nomination.

And while the overwhelming majority of Democrats, 78%, and half of independents – up from 41% in March – believe Trump broke the law, Republicans sharply disagree. They survey found that half of Republicans think Trump did nothing wrong – up from 45% in a March Marist survey.

"Time will tell if this pattern holds. But for now, Republicans are grounded on where they stand on Trump regardless of these unfolding events." Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute, said in a statement.

Trump continues to lead in national and most statewide primary polls. His GOP opponents have been largely measured in their criticisms of him, and several have said they would pardon the former president if they themselves were elected to the White House – a sign of the power Trump's base has in the party.

Trump and many of his primary opponents are scheduled to speak next week at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Washington.