Americans are divided along party lines over Trump’s actions in election cases, AP-NORC poll shows

A recent poll conducted by The Big Big News-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reveals a stark partisan divide among Americans regarding their opinions on President Donald Trump’s actions in recent legal cases, particularly those related to the 2020 election. Approximately half of the respondents view Trump’s alleged efforts to interfere in Georgia’s vote count as illegal. The survey also highlights that 53% of Americans approve of the Justice Department’s decision to indict Trump due to his attempts to retain office after losing the 2020 election.

The poll, which was conducted before the charges in the Georgia case were announced, suggests that Democrats overwhelmingly support the criminal charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, with 85% of Democrats approving. In contrast, only 47% of independents and a mere 16% of Republicans share this view. In total, 3 out of 10 Americans disapprove of the charges, with a significant proportion of those being Republicans.

Interestingly, the survey underscores that while the majority of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Trump (62%), he maintains popularity among Republicans, with 70% of them having a favorable opinion of him. Moreover, around 60% of Republicans express a desire for Trump to run for the presidency again.

Conducted between August 10 and 14, before the Georgia charges were officially announced, the poll found that 51% of U.S. adults believed that Trump acted illegally in the case, with even 16% of Republicans sharing this belief. This aligns with a similar poll conducted in June.

Despite these legal developments, the electorate’s fundamental division remains largely unaltered: a majority disapproves of Trump, yet he remains popular within the Republican Party.

Only 17% of U.S. adults have a high level of confidence in the Justice Department, with low confidence levels spanning across the political spectrum. Notably, 48% of Republicans have little to no confidence in the Justice Department, in contrast to 18% of Democrats who share this sentiment.

Trump’s multiple indictments since April are perceived differently by the American populace. About half of the respondents believe Trump’s actions were illegal in relation to events like the January 6 insurrection, the Georgia charges, and the case involving classified documents in Florida. However, only about a third of the respondents view his actions as illegal in the context of covering up hush money payments. This disparity in perceptions extends to how Americans view the impact of Trump’s actions after the 2020 election on democracy: 54% think he threatened democracy, while 19% believe he defended it.

The poll also illustrates that the belief in the legitimacy of President Biden’s election is starkly divided along partisan lines. While 70% of respondents overall consider Biden’s election legitimate, 57% of Republicans view it as illegitimate, compared to 32% of independents and a mere 2% of Democrats.

In summary, the poll conducted with a sample drawn from NORC’s AmeriSpeak Panel indicates a persistent divide among Americans in their perspectives on Trump’s legal issues and his impact on democracy, reflecting ongoing political polarization in the country. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is approximately 3.8 percentage points.

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• The Big Big News-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research
• Justice Department
• AP-NORC poll conducted in June