Many Republicans don’t believe Trump was indicted or aren’t sure – but say he’s not guilty

10 June 2024

Donald Trump has been indicted on dozens of criminal felony charges, and yet a combination of approximately two-thirds of Republicans are either unsure that the ex-president was indicted on certain charges, or disagree that he was. They also say he’s not guilty.

Guilt or innocence aside, given that Trump himself and the news media frequently talk about the indictments, about the cases, about the judges, the prosecutors, and the evidence, it is a stunning revelation.

A Yahoo! News survey conducted by YouGov of nearly 2000 adults last week revealed the state of the nation’s knowledge about the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s indictments.

The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake posted a small section of the results.

Participants were asked about three of Trump’s indictments.

“As far as you know, which of the following things has Donald Trump been indicted for?” each question in that section started, followed by, “Taking highly classified documents from the White House and obstructing efforts to retrieve them,” “Conspiring to overturn the results of a presidential election,” and “Attempting to obstruct the certification of a presidential election.”

On the classified documents indictment, 57% said Trump either was not indicted (29%) or that or they were not sure (28%.)

On the conspiring to overturn the election indictment, 64% said Trump either was not indicted (34%) or that or they were not sure (30%.)

On the attempting to obstruct the certification of a presidential election indictment, 63% said Trump either was not indicted (33%) or that or they were not sure (30%.)

When it comes to thinking if the ex-president is guilty or not guilty, the results were similar.

“Regardless of whether he has been indicted, do you think Trump is GUILTY or NOT GUILTY of the following things?” the question began.

On, “Taking highly classified documents from the White House and obstructing efforts to retrieve them,” 86% said Trump was either not guilty (62%) or they were unsure (24%.) Just 14% of Republicans said they thought he was guilty.

On, “Conspiring to overturn the results of a presidential election,” 89% said Trump was either not guilty (68%) or they were unsure (21%.) Just 10% of Republicans said they thought he was guilty.

On, “Attempting to obstruct the certification of a presidential election,” again, a similar response: 89% said Trump was either not guilty (67%) or they were unsure (22%.) Again, just 10% of Republicans said they thought he was guilty.

On all three questions a slight majority of Republicans say they believe Trump will be found not guilty.

Despite strong numbers of Republicans insisting Trump is either not under indictment on various charges and not guilty of them, their perception of the crimes disqualifying someone from holding the top job in the land was even stronger.

Asked about “Conspiring to overturn the results of a presidential election,” just 29% of Republicans said it would make someone “unfit for the presidency if they were convicted of it.”

“Attempting to obstruct the certification of a presidential election”? Just 24% of Republicans said it would make someone unfit if convicted.

And, on “Taking highly classified documents from the White House and obstructing efforts to retrieve them,” considered by many experts as one of the strongest of all cases against the ex-president because of the amount of hard evidence, just 22% of Republicans said it would make someone unfit for the presidency if convicted.

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