Majority of voters think Trump committed ‘serious federal crimes,’ according to NYT poll

A majority of voters believe former President Donald Trump has committed “serious federal crimes,” according to the latest New York Times/Siena College poll.

Fifty-three percent of likely voters said they believe this, while 39 percent of those surveyed said they did not believe that Trump committed serious crimes. Nine percent said they didn’t know or didn’t answer the question.

The numbers broken down by party affiliation show that 90 percent of Democrats believe he has committed serious crimes, while 17 percent of Republicans fall in this category. Forty-nine percent of independents shared this sentiment.

The new poll comes as jury selection will begin in Trump’s New York trial on Monday, setting the stage for an unprecedented presidential race. In what will be the first time a former U.S. president has gone to criminal trial, the next couple of months will place into focus the long-anticipated clash of Trump’s legal perils with his push to win back the White House. The former president is set to hold a rally in Pennsylvania Saturday evening, the last before court will hamper his ability to be on the campaign trail.

In New York, Trump is being tried on charges that he falsified business records to cover up a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. He has continued to deny the charges while slamming the case as a political witch hunt.

Asked specifically about this case, 46 percent of likely voters surveyed said they believe Trump should be found guilty, while 37 percent said he should be found not guilty. Seventeen percent of voters said they didn’t know or didn’t answer the question.

A conviction in the Manhattan case could be particularly damaging for Trump among independents, as recent polls have shown these voters would be less likely to support the former president in this case. It may not make or break his chances of returning to the White House, but it could greatly harm his standing with some voters.

The poll was conducted from April 7-11 among 1,059 registered voters nationwide, including 875 who completed the full survey. The margin of error for those who completed the full survey is 3.9 percentage points for likely voters.