Donald Trump Gets Worrying Sign From New Poll After Guilty Verdict

A new poll delivered a worrying sign to former President Donald Trump after he received a guilty verdict in his hush-money trial.

On May 30, a jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with an alleged hush-money payment made to the adult film actor Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted the case, accused Trump of making the payment to prevent Daniels from speaking publicly about an affair she said she had with Trump.

The former president pleaded not guilty to all the charges and denied the affair. After the verdict, Trump called the trial a "disgrace" and "rigged."

YouGov conducted a "snap poll" hours after the verdict announcement to gauge whether Americans agreed with the jury's decision.

The poll asked, "Donald Trump was recently convicted of 34 charges, including for falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer for payments made to an adult film actress. Do you agree with the jury that he is guilty of these charges?"

Of the 3,040 U.S. adults surveyed, 50 percent said they believed Trump was guilty, while 30 percent said they believed he was not guilty. Another 19 percent said they were not sure.

The poll found that a plurality of independents, a key group that could determine the outcome of the 2024 election, believed Trump was guilty. Forty-eight percent of independent voters said they believed he was guilty, 25 percent said they believed he was not guilty, and 26 percent said they were not sure.

Polls also indicated that a guilty verdict could change the dynamic of the presidential race. Although Trump has maintained a lead over President Joe Biden, several surveys found that some Trump voters said they would not support him if he were found guilty of a crime. Political analysts told Newsweek the verdict could make it more difficult for independent voters to support Trump in November.

A plurality of Americans, 47 percent, also believed Trump received a fair trial, the YouGov poll found. The poll found that 37 percent of Americans said he did not receive a fair trial. Trump has accused Judge Juan Merchan of being biased against him and has argued that he could not receive a fair trial in Manhattan because of the borough's staunch Democratic lean.

Newsweek has contacted the Trump campaign for comment on the poll via email.

Following the verdict, Trump told reporters: "The real verdict is going to be November 5 by the people. And they know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here. You have a Soros-backed DA and the whole thing. We didn't do a thing wrong. I'm a very innocent man. And it's OK, I'm fighting for our country. I'm fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now."

In a news conference after the verdict, Bragg praised the jury for its service throughout the trial.

He said, "We should all be thankful for the careful attention that this jury paid to the evidence and the law and their time and commitment over these past several weeks."