A recent poll by Politico-Ipsos has found that former President Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 charges related to a hush money payment may be viewed as a mixed bag among some independent voters. While 40% of independents surveyed said the guilty verdict had no impact on their willingness to support Trump in November, 32% said it made them less likely to support him.
Twenty-one percent of independents claimed that the conviction is important in deciding their vote, with 46% of this group believing the verdict resulted from a fair and impartial process. By contrast, 27% of independents considered the trial unfair, and 24% remained unsure.
Despite the verdict, the state of the presidential race remains largely unchanged, with Trump maintaining a lead over President Joe Biden in national and swing state polls. The Biden campaign is attempting to capitalize on the conviction by portraying Trump as a criminal, while the Trump campaign has sought to undermine the credibility of the Manhattan trial.
Trump’s lawyers have not ruled out the possibility of a pardon for their client, who is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The former president may potentially face jail time, an outcome some Republicans believe would guarantee his November victory.
