For the second time this year, former President Donald Trump has been indicted. His first indictment came back in March 2023 over a hush money incident with former adult actress Stormy Daniels, but this time, it’s much more serious. Trump has been indicted for taking classified documents from the White House after being President. There are 37 counts against the former President, 31 of which are “(the) willful retention of national defense information”, Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
What truly makes this intriguing is that not only is Trump a former President, but it’s also that he is currently running for reelection, and he holds a large lead in Republican primary polling. Trump’s poll numbers tower over other candidates like Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence, who are a distant second and third place.
According to a poll conducted by ABC News and Ipsos, 48% of Americans believe Donald Trump should be charged, 35% say he should not, and 17% remain unsure. On top of that, 46% of Americans believe Trump should suspend his campaign for President, while 38% say he should continue running.
While a plurality of Americans seem to think Trump should be charged and that he should suspend his campaign, another poll from the same source shows that a similar plurality believes the charges to be politically motivated, with 47% of Americans believing that politics played some role in his indictment and 37% believing the indictment was nonpartisan.
Despite everything, it is more likely than not that Trump will carry on with his campaign, as the rest of the primary field looks to unseat him from the top of the polls. One thing is for certain, his two indictments will make for an interesting discussion for the first GOP primary debate coming this August on the 23rd, and they may have an impact on the polls before then.
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