80 percent of likely GOP voters think Trump should still be able to be president if convicted

Eighty percent of likely Republican primary voters in a new poll think former President Trump should still be able to get back to the Oval Office even if he’s convicted in the classified documents case.

A CBS News-YouGov poll, released Sunday, found that just 20 percent of likely GOP primary voters think Trump shouldn’t be able to serve again as president if he’s convicted over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Trump, who is running for the White House in 2024 after losing his 2020 reelection bid to President Biden, was indicted last week on 37 counts as part of the probe into Trump’s document handling and whether the former president tried to keep the records from being returned after the end of his White House tenure.

Just 12 percent of likely GOP primary voters said they’re more concerned the the documents were a national security risk, compared to 76 percent who said they’re more concerned that the indictment against Trump was politically motivated. Another 12 percent said they’re concerned about both.

Sixty-one percent of that group also said the indictment “won’t change” their view of the former president. Seven percent said the indictment might change their view “for the worse” and 14 percent say “for the better.” Eighteen percent said it “depends.”

Nearly two-thirds of likely GOP primary voters said they’d prefer Trump not talk about the various investigations against him as he campaigns for 2024, while 39 percent say they would prefer he do so.

Trump polled at the top of a hypothetical Republican primary field, leading with 61 percent who say they’ll vote for him. In second place was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with 23 percent.

Trump is the first former U.S. president to face federal criminal charges. Earlier this year, Trump also became the first former president to face criminal charges when was indicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an investigation by the Manhattan district attorney.

Conducted June 7-10, the poll surveyed 2,480 U.S. adults and 1,798 U.S. adults who were recontacted after the indictment against Trump was unsealed. Responses from the subgroup of likely Republican primary voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.