According to a recent CNN poll, a majority of Americans believe that former President Trump is receiving different treatment compared to most criminal defendants in his hush money case.
The trial for hush money involving Trump commenced on Monday, making it the first criminal trial involving a former U.S. president. Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records connected to reimbursements made to his former attorney, Michael Cohen. Cohen had paid $130,000 to an adult film actor before the 2016 election to prevent her from disclosing an alleged affair with Trump, which he has consistently denied.
According to a recent poll conducted by The Economist/YouGov, 24 percent of Americans believe that the former president will be convicted of a crime in the hush money case. On the other hand, 36 percent of respondents stated that they do not think the former president will be convicted, while 39 percent expressed uncertainty about the outcome.
According to the survey, 43 percent of Americans believe that Trump should face conviction in the case, while 37 percent hold the opposite view. The remaining 20 percent are unsure about their stance on the matter.
After the second day of jury selection in his trial, Trump described the reimbursements as a “legal expense,” shifting some of the responsibility onto his accountants.
“I was actually paying a lawyer and we categorized it as a legal expense. It was the advice given to me by some accountant. I had no idea. We simply marked it down as a legal expense. And now, can you believe it, I’m being indicted for that?” Trump expressed his disbelief to reporters.
The SSRS, a research firm, conducted the CNN poll from April 18 to 23. The poll included a sample of 1,212 respondents, and the margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
