Poll: 62 Percent Say Trump Indictment Politically Motivated

A survey released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University found that 62% of Americans believe the recent indictment of former President Donald Trump was politically motivated.

While only 34% said the charges were not politically motivated, 6 in 10 Americans think Trump was wrong to harbor the sensitive files after his tenure in office. Twenty-six percent, meanwhile, said he acted appropriately.

By 51% to 41%, respondents said Trump should be prosecuted for his handling of the files at his Mar-a-Lago residence. That is virtually identical to Quinnipiac’s results in August 2022.

“From the seriousness of the indictment, to the possible national peril posed by exposure of classified documents, to the way Trump has responded, Americans think Trump comes up short and they want to know more from him,” Quinnipiac analyst Tim Malloy said. “That said, a majority say it’s all just politics.”

Independents sided with Republicans in contending that Trump’s indictment before the federal district court in Miami was political. Broken down by party lines, 65% of unaffiliated voters agreed with the sentiment.

The results were starkly different by age group: 67% of respondents aged 18 to 34 said the Department of Justice’s case was politically motivated; only 53% of those 65 and older said the same.

Trump was arraigned last week and pleaded not guilty to 37 counts, including alleged violations of the Espionage Act.

The poll of 1,776 United States adults was conducted from June 15 to June 19. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.