President Donald Trump saw a small bump in support after he was convicted on felony charges this past week.
Before the former president was convicted, he led President Biden by 2 points.
But a Morning Consult analysis said that the verdict still has taken a “toll” on the “Trump buzz” and “hurt [his] image.”
“This is the fifth successive week in which Biden’s net favorability rating has bettered Trump’s—the longest such stretch since April 2023 and a trend that began as legal proceedings in New York ramped up,” the pollster wrote.
Meanwhile, it found that 49 percent of independent voters believe President Trump should drop out of the presidential race in the wake of the conviction. About 15 percent of Republicans say they believe he should leave the race, too, it found.
“But among the key groups who look more inclined to back Trump in ‘24 compared to ’20—(Black and Hispanic voters and those <35)—we haven’t seen much shift in vote choice since the guilty verdict,” Mr. Easley wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
A Daily Mail poll by JL Partners found that 22 percent of voters have a more positive view of President Trump after he was convicted, compared to 16 percent who have a more negative view.
A recent post-conviction Reuters-Ipsos poll found that 25 percent of independent voters said they are less likely to vote for President Trump, while 18 percent said they are more likely to back him.
A majority of independents said the conviction won’t impact how they vote in November.
The former president on May 30 was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in what prosecutors said was a scheme to cover up payments to a woman claiming an affair during the 2016 presidential election. President Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying that they are politically motivated. He also denied the affair.
After the jury’s verdict, New York Supreme Court Justice Judge Juan Merchan set his sentencing date for July 11, four days ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The former president could face up to four years in prison, although some legal experts—including former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.—said he likely won’t receive a prison term from the judge.
The former president vowed to file an appeal of the conviction, and his lawyer said that his team will take the case “all the way” to the U.S. Supreme Court if need be. Nothing in the Constitution prevents a convicted felon from running for office or holding office.
In a Truth Social post on June 2, the former president wrote that he wants the Supreme Court to intervene before the sentencing date, and again criticized the judge.
President Trump’s campaign announced that it has raised tens of millions of dollars in donations since the conviction was announced. In the 24 hours after the decision, it raised $53 million, according to the campaign.
“Biden and his Democrat allies have turned our legal system into a political tool, and Americans from every corner of the country have had enough,” Trump campaign officials Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a joint statement about the fundraising.
“This momentum is just getting started and together, as President Trump stated perfectly, Americans will render the real verdict November 5th.”
