Americans, by and large, do not want Republican lawmakers to interfere with law enforcement investigations against former President Donald Trump. But it’s different for the majority of average Republicans, especially MAGA Republicans who want their representatives to try to stop them.
And it comes as rank-and-file Republicans expressed greater willingness to pledge party loyalty to Trump earlier this year, before Trump was impeached.
By a two-to-one ratio, US Republicans would prefer to let lawmakers proceed rather than try to block a law enforcement investigation into Trump.
Fifty-six percent of Republicans said that Republicans in Congress, unlike the rest of the country, should stop these law enforcement investigations. It helped define the divisions within the party. It’s worth noting that more than four in 10 Republicans disagree, preferring to pursue the investigation.
At the same time, the overall willingness of Republicans to remain loyal to Trump has increased. Three out of four say Republicans’ loyalty to Trump is at least somewhat important to them. This is up 11 points from January.
MAGA Republicans are more likely to view loyalty as “very important,” but non-MAGA Republicans have also changed their attitudes. Now).
Going back to the US as a whole, a majority of Americans believe that at least some of the allegations against Trump are serious enough to be prosecuted if there is sufficient evidence. Of the charges against him in New York City (described as “falsifying business records to conceal payments for alleged events and violations of election laws”), 57% said they were serious enough to warrant prosecution.
Most people of a similar size say the same about the other two allegations they are investigating. Namely, the mishandling of classified documents after he left office and the attempt to subvert the 2020 election. Make a claim even when there is sufficient evidence to prove it.
Partisan divisions on these issues are predictable, but not all Republicans are downplaying these charges, as are Democrats and liberals willing to seek impeachment. In fact, nearly half of Republicans say at least one out of four people tested is serious enough to file charges with no evidence.
The country is more divided about what New York’s indictment means for them than it did earlier this month. Very few would say that no one is above the law, not even a former president.
Independents are roughly evenly divided on the question, differing in their views on how seriously they take allegations of falsifying business records.
And it is Republicans who are most likely to say that the news media overstated the prosecution. Half the independents agree.