Former President Donald Trump’s hopes of winning back the White House will take a serious hit if he is convicted of a crime, according to a new survey.
A Morning Consult/ Bloomberg swing state tracking poll released this week found that Mr. Trump has a 48% to 42% lead over Mr. Biden among registered voters.
But 53% of those same voters said they would be unwilling to support Mr. Trump if he is convicted of a crime, including 43% who said they would be “very unwilling” to do so.
That compares to 29% who said they would be “very willing” to support Mr. Trump if he is convicted.
His strongest support comes from self-identified Evangelical Christian voters, 40% of whom said they would be “very willing” to stick with him.
The responses broke along partisan lines: 52% of Republicans, 23% of independents, and 8% of Democrats said they would be “very willing” to support Mr. Trump if he is convicted.
Mr. Trump’s legal challenges have hung over the presidential race.
He faces more than 90 felony charges related to interfering in the 2020 election, trying to cover up hush-money payments to a porn star and mishandling classified documents.
Mr. Trump says it is an extension of the witch hunt that started when he was in office, and says nefarious “deep state” actors working on behalf of the Biden administration are now trying to kneecap his chances of returning to the Oval Office.
The message has resonated intensely with GOP primary voters.
Polls have shown Mr. Trump’s support has grown after criminal charges were filed against him — so much so that his primary rivals have said they wished he was not charged.
The new poll findings, however, underscore that Mr. Trump will have a tougher time convincing the broader electorate in the general election that he is a victim of partisan prosecution.
The survey, conducted Jan. 16 – 22, included 4,956 registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. It had a 1% margin of error.