Dem
51
GOP
49
Enough time has passed for the dust to have largely settled. So what do people think about Donald Trump's conviction? The AP commissioned a NORC poll to find out what people think of a convicted felon becoming president.
To start with, 48% of adults approve of the verdict, 29% disapprove, and 21% have no opinion. How could people have no opinion? Well, only 29% of independents are paying a lot of attention to it (compared to 53% of Democrats and 41% of Republicans). If you are not paying attention, you probably have no opinion on the subject. However, this gives the Democrats an opening. They can focus on informing the people who are barely aware of the verdict.
Not surprisingly, the breakdown is highly partisan:
Practically all Democrats think the jury came to the correct conclusion, whereas a majority of Republicans think the jury got it wrong. Only one-third of independents think the jury got it right, but only 18% think the jury blew it. The rest don't know.
Even more important is that people's views of Trump have not budged. About 60% have a negative view of him. So how come the polls are tied? Well, 60% also have a negative view of Joe Biden. One moderate Republican summed up his views of Trump nicely, saying: "I think he's a disgusting human being. But he has some good policies and good ideas." Joke's on him; Trump himself actually has no policies and no ideas. (V)