The trial of former President Donald Trump is not over, but one poll indicates a majority of voters believe he will be found guilty.
According to a Suffolk University/USA Today national poll of registered voters, 65% think Trump will be found guilty on some of the 34 charges he faces in a Manhattan courtroom.
This is the first time in the nation’s history for a former or current president has stood trial.
Trump is charged with falsifying business records for hush money allegedly paid to former porn actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence in the alleged sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied the allegations.
According to Fox News, the poll was released Tuesday as Daniels took the stand.
“Exactly half (50%) predicted Trump would be found guilty on some — but not all — counts, while 15% said they believed he would be found guilty on all counts,” according to the poll. “Another 23% said he would likely be found not guilty on all counts, and 10% were undecided.”
This poll can be considered a baseline as the trial progresses, David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said.
“The poll sets expectations going into the remainder of the trial and the verdict in terms of what voters see. This could be vastly different than what the jury sees,” Paleologos told Fox News.
Of those polled, 44% don’t believe the trial has been fair, while 39% say Trump is getting a fair trial. Sixteen percent were undecided.
“Fairness cut along party lines, with 76% of Democrats saying Trump is receiving a fair trial, while 80% of Republicans claimed that the trial has not been fair,” Paleologos said. “Independents were split evenly on the question of fairness at 37% each, with 24% undecided.”
The poll was conducted April 30-May 3 with 1,000 registered voters nationwide questioned. The survey’s sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, per the outlet.