Almost half of Americans in a new poll said that they believe the federal indictment of former President Trump is politically motivated after he was charged with 37 counts in relation to the alleged mishandling of records at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Forty-seven percent of respondents in the ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday say the charges against Trump are politically motivated, while 37 percent say they are not. Sixteen percent say they are not sure.
Most Republicans — 80 percent — say the charges announced last week are politically motivated, with only 16 percent of Democrats aligning with that view.
By comparison, 71 percent of Democrats say the charges are not rooted in politics. Only nine percent of Republicans say the same.
Pollsters also asked Americans whether they believe Trump should be charged with a crime, with almost a majority of respondents — 48 percent — saying he should while 37 percent say he should not be charged.
The poll of 910 U.S. adults was conducted from June 9 to 10 and has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
The results come after news of Trump’s indictment broke on Friday. The Department of Justice alleged Trump kept high-level material after leaving the White House, improperly shared it with those without clearances and sought to block any efforts to retrieve the documents.