A majority of US voters consider the New York criminal charges against Donald Trump related to hush money payments to a porn star to be serious, a new poll found ahead of the former president's trial next week.
Donald Trump's Hush Money Charges Are Seen as 'Serious' by Most Voters
According to Reuters/Ipsos poll data released Wednesday, 64% of registered voters in the five-day survey, which closed on Monday, said they see Donald Trump's hush money charges as "somewhat serious," compared to 34% who said the case "lacked seriousness."
The rest were either unsure or did not answer. The trial, which will start on April 15, is the first of Trump's four criminal cases to go to trial.
Although legal experts suggest that the three other cases, involving allegations of electoral fraud or mishandling classified documents, are notably heavier than the alleged hush money payments, the polling indicates that any criminal conviction could significantly impact Trump's political standing.
According to the poll, approximately four in 10 Republican respondents regarded the hush money charges as serious, while about two-thirds of independents shared this sentiment.
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Alleged $130,000 Payment of Donald Trump to Porn Star Stormy Daniels
Donald Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Michael Cohen, the former president's lawyer and "fixer," arranged the $130,000 payment days leading up to the 2016 election to silence the porn star about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump in 2006.
Trump has denied the sexual encounter and pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide his reimbursement of Cohen for the payment to Daniels.
Many voters appear to regard the charges of election fraud in Georgia against Trump as more serious. Some 74% of surveyed registered voters deemed them serious.
While Trump seeks to postpone all four trials, a New York state appellate judge junked on Monday his request to delay the hush money trial.
About 60% of poll respondents also agreed that Trump's criminal trials should happen before the November 5 election. Only 27% of registered voters agreed with Trump's argument that he should have immunity from actions he took as president.
The former president maintains his innocence in all four cases and attributes them to political adversaries. However, about a quarter of Republican respondents in the poll still said that they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted of a felony crime.
In a nationwide online survey, the Reuters/Ipsos poll, which surveyed 1,021 US adults, including 833 registered voters, had a margin of error of about three percentage points for all respondents and four points for registered voters.
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