More than half of Americans back pardon for Trump – poll

More than half of Americans believe that former US President Donald Trump should be pardoned if he’s convicted and sent to prison over his alleged mishandling of classified papers, a poll has revealed.

The monthly survey by the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard (CAPS), the Harris Poll and HarrisX, which was published on Friday, has shown that 53% of the voters asked, including 80% of Republicans, thought that Trump should be pardoned “in the interest of national unity.”

Former US president was indicted on 37 felony counts last week, but Americans appear to be split 51% to 49% on whether it’s a reason for him to withdraw from next year’s race for the White House.

At the same time, 58% of those surveyed thought that the legal case against Trump was strong. This view is held by 85% of Democrats, 60% of Independents and 30% of Republicans, according to the study.

If the election was held now Trump would have beaten incumbent US President Joe Biden by 45% to 39%, the poll also suggests.

“Americans remain politically split 50-50 but just about 100% are unhappy with the direction of the country, the economy, and their political leaders,” Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard CAPS / Harris Poll has said. “Biden’s approval is frozen in place despite the debt ceiling deal and a recovering stock market; yet Trump’s numbers are also unshaken after an unprecedented federal indictment.”