Former President Donald Trump and his allies often make their belief that the legal troubles he faces are all politically motivated.
In February, CBS News reported, "Polls show his supporters agree, with 66% of Republicans believing the legal cases against him have been handled unfairly. In contrast, 70% of Democrats feel Trump is being treated fairly."
In a Sunday, April 28 analysis, CNN senior political data reporter Harry Enten insists that based on current polling, the ex-president's legal issues aren't serving him well at all.
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"Trump’s success might make you believe that he has turned the conventional wisdom on its head – that somehow, his legal troubles are helping him politically," Enten writes.
"And while that may have been true in the primary, the general election is a different ballgame," he continues, "There isn’t much of a sign that Trump’s legal woes are helping him among the wider electorate, even if they aren’t hurting him necessarily."
Enten reports President Joe "Biden has, if anything, been the one who has picked up ground over the last few months, as both men have clinched their respective parties’ nominations." The CNN reporter notes the president "was behind by about 2 points on average during the height of the Republican primary a few months ago."
Enten reports:
Take, for example, the New York hush money case. It’s clear from the data that most Americans don’t think Trump did something illegal. Just 33% of Americans do, according to the latest CNN/SSRS poll. Likewise, most Americans don’t think that if the charges were true that they would be disqualifying for the presidency.
In addition to that 33% who think Trump did something illegal, there’s another 33% who think he did something unethical, but not illegal, as it relates to his actions in the New York case. That’s two-thirds of the public who believe he did something wrong.
He emphasizes, "In fact, the people who are paying closer attention to Trump’s criminal cases are more likely to favor Biden than those who aren’t, according to polling from the Times."
Enten's full analysis is here.
