Jan. 6 hearings haven't changed public opinion on Trump, poll finds
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Trump supporters outside of Trump Tower. Photo: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
Close to 40% of Americans would still support former President Trump in a 2024 presidential bid despite the recent Jan. 6 hearings, a new Monmouth University poll found.
The big picture: The poll found that American public opinion of Trump, the Jan. 6 riot and the 2024 election haven't shifted after the recent hearings, which have aimed to show that there is evidence Trump committed crimes during the Capitol riot.
Details: The poll found that 38% of those surveyed think Trump is directly responsible for the events of Jan. 6, which is down from 42% who felt the same in late June.
- Another 26% said Trump is not directly responsible for Jan. 6 (25% said the same in June) and 32% said Trump did nothing wrong regarding the Capitol riot (30% said the same in June).
- In all, about 40% of Americans said they viewed Trump favorably and 50% said they viewed him unfavorably.
- Four in 10 said they would "definitely" or "probably" vote for Trump if he ran again in 2024. Meanwhile, 48% said they would definitely not vote for him again and 8% said they probably wouldn't support him.
What they're saying: "The sensational revelations during the hearings do not seem to have moved the public opinion needle on Trump's culpability for either the riot or his spurious election fraud claims," Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a release.
- "This continues to give political cover to Republican leaders who avoid addressing the damage done to our democratic processes that day," he added.
State of play: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told Fox News at the Conservative Political Action Conference event in Dallas last week that Trump will "decide on his own time frame" whether he will announce a 2024 run.
- "Everyone is going to wait and see what Donald Trump decides and make decisions from there," Cruz told Fox News.
Yes, but: Republican lawmakers have been eyeing potential new 2024 candidates amid concerns that the Jan. 6 hearings could impact public opinion on Trump, CNN reports.
- Multiple GOP hopefuls have been deflecting questions or hinting at potential 2024 runs should Trump decide to step aside.
Go deeper ... Trump's telltale toilet
Methodology: The Monmouth University Poll was sponsored and conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute from July 28 to Aug. 1, 2022, with a national random sample of 808 adults. The margin of error for the total sample is ± 3.5.
