The criminal trial of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on suspicion of bribery to silence a sexual scandal is underway, but analysis has shown that it has not had any significant impact on approval ratings.
CNN reported on the 28th that President Joe Biden and former President Trump are receiving similar support nationwide, despite former President Trump’s trial on suspicion of silencing sexual misconduct. CNN reported that since the 12th of last month, when President Biden and former President Trump were confirmed as each party’s presidential candidates, President Biden’s approval rating has shown an increase, and the gap has narrowed.
Previously, according to various opinion polls, President Biden was behind by an average of 2 percentage points, but as the gap narrowed, the score was virtually tied. In the actual Quinnipiac University survey (18th to 22nd), the rate was tied at 46%. In addition, President Biden showed an advantage within the margin of error in Morning Consult (19th to 21st, 1%-point advantage) and Marist College (16th to 28th, 3%-point advantage), while the New York Times (7th to 11th) showed an advantage within the margin of error. It was found that former President Trump was ahead within the margin of error in cases such as Japan and 1 percentage point advantage.
In the opinion poll conducted by CNN from the 18th to the 23rd and released on the same day, former President Trump was found to be ahead of President Biden (43%) at 49%, within the margin of error (±3.4 percentage points). The media reported that compared to the January survey, former President Trump was tied, and President Biden was at a similar level, although it decreased slightly from 45%.
Former President Trump has been criminally indicted four times in total, and the trial on suspicion of ‘silent money for sexual misconduct’ has begun and is currently underway. During the trial, prosecutors claimed that David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid, was trying to block articles that could damage former President Trump’s 2016 presidential bid by purchasing the rights to the articles in a so-called “catch and kill.”
They achieved success by preventing others from providing the article and encouraging statements acknowledging that they did not write the article. On the other hand, former President Trump’s side has consistently denied the criminal charges, calling the trial a “witch hunt” and a “criminalization.”
Regarding this incident, CNN’s poll that day found that only 33% thought that former President Trump had done something illegal. Additionally, 34% responded that former President Trump was being treated more harshly than other defendants. However, CNN reported that even though the trial of this case began in earnest, there was no rebound in former President Trump’s approval rating.
CNN said, “In three of the four criminal cases, if the charges are true, there are more responses saying that former President Trump should not become president. If there is a rise in public opinion polls due to the criminal trial, it should be this case.” “I do,” he said. He continued, “The reason there is no rebound despite this is because most Americans do not accept former President Trump’s ‘witch hunt’ claims.”
CNN also reported that former President Trump is using criminal trials to raise a lot of political funds, but it is unclear whether these funds are offsetting the significant legal expenses. Meanwhile, in a CNN opinion poll, President Biden’s approval rating for his performance of state affairs recorded 40%, showing similar results as before.
By policy issue, approval ratings for health and student loan issues were only 45% and 44%, respectively. Furthermore, only 28% supported President Biden’s response to the war between Israel and Hamas, while 71% opposed it. Also, regarding the evaluation of the first terms of office of the two former and current presidents, 55% of respondents said that former President Trump was a success and 44% said that it was a failure, while 39% of respondents said that President Biden was a success and 61% said that he was a failure.
The response was that it was a failure, so the evaluation of ‘failure’ was high.