Despite three criminal indictments, the threat of hundreds of years of prison-time and an unprecedented media assault on his character and reputation, former President Donald Trump has maintained his head-to-head lead in polls against President Joe Biden. How is that possible? A significant number of Americans simply don’t believe the charges are valid, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.
For this month’s online national poll, taken August 2-4 of 1,369 adults, we asked the following:
“Former President Trump is facing more than 40 federal charges in connection with the Mar-a-Lago classified records case and the investigation into the protests in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. In total, these charges could amount to hundreds of years in prison. What best describes how you feel about these charges?”
We then provided four possible responses:
- “The charges seem legitimate and should be pursued.”
- “The charges are political harassment by the Biden administration to keep Trump from running for re-election in 2024.”
- “The charges are exaggerated, but even if some are true, I will still vote for Trump in 2024.”
- “Not sure.”
Given the massive media exposure to the multiple legal actions against former President and current candidate Trump, it’s probably no great shock that a slight majority of 51% responded that the “charges seem legitimate and should be pursued.” The poll’s margin of error is +/-2.7 percentage points.
Among those responding, another 10% called themselves “unsure.”
Even so, more than a third (39%) of Americans had a far harsher judgment of Trump’s legal travails. Thirty percent responded that the legal charges Trump faces are “political harassment” by the Biden administration intended to keep Trump from running, while 9% said the charges were “exaggerated,” but even if they were true they’d still vote for Trump.
As always seems the case these days, the differences among different political parties and affiliations are huge.
For instance, 76% of Democrats called the raft of sudden indictments against Trump “legitimate” and said they should be “pursued,” while a minority of 15% of Republicans and 49% of independents agreed with that.
On the question of whether the legal charges amounted to “political harassment” to keep Trump out of the 2024 presidential race, the breakdown of those who agreed was similarly lopsided: Democrats 15%, Republicans 56%, and independents 29%.
The smallest response came from our final question, with 3% of Democrats calling the Trump charges exaggerated but saying they would still vote for him, while a somewhat larger 18% of Republicans and 10% of independents agreed.
All told, 74% of Republicans and 39% of independents describe the current charges as “harassment” or “exaggerated,” compared to just 18% of Democrats.
More glaring demographic differences emerge when responses are broken down by race. A hefty 44% of white voters called the Trump charges “harassment/exaggerated,” compared to 29% of black Americans and 31% of hispanic Americans.
Why the big gaps in opinion? Might it be the difference in mainstream media coverage that Trump’s scandals get, versus the brewing scandals of his current main rival for the presidency, Joe Biden? There is some evidence for this.
Call it “A Tale of Two Scandals.”
As the Media Research Center (MRC) recently reported, on June 8 of this year Trump was indicted (one of three active indictments of Trump, with more possible) for alleged mishandling of classified documents. Meanwhile, on the very same day, it was reported that Joe Biden allegedly had taken $5 million from an executive with Ukraine-based energy giant Burisima, on whose board Joe Biden’s son Hunter sat.
We’ll let the MRC describe what happened next.
Over 39 days (June 8-morning of July 18) the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) broadcast networks crammed their evening, morning and Sunday roundtable shows with a total of 527 minutes of coverage dedicated to the Trump indictment. But how much did the Biden/Burisma alleged bribery scheme receive? Zero seconds.
So, despite the possible involvement in bribery, a felony and a clearly impeachable offense, the major networks didn’t expend even one minute to inform their viewers of the possible serious misconduct of the current president. But they did spend nearly nine hours on Trump’s charges.
The Biden bribery charges didn’t come out of the blue.
In early July, Sen. Charles Grassley released a letter showing that federal prosecutors and the FBI were notified “two weeks before the 2020 election that the FBI had allegations from an informant suggesting Joe Biden was involved in a bribery scheme involving Ukrainian business interests,” according to Just The News.
Yet, there was little to no curiosity about such a blockbuster revelation among the mainstream media. Instead, they noted that there was no concrete proof. “White House officials have said that many of the allegations lodged against Biden have either been unsupported by hard evidence or overreliant on non-credible sources,” as one media outlet reported in June.
Meanwhile, a House investigation by the House Oversight Committee claims it has evidence the Biden and his son Hunter may have taken in $40 million or more for the family and its business partners, with much of it laundered through 20 or so shell companies. The Bidens had business dealings with China, Russia and Ukraine, among others.
As Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer suggested two weeks ago, after getting possession of more of Biden’s financial records, “We’re working on a third memorandum. They will show transactions from Ukraine and Russia.”
So it may be that, as many suggest, that the media are saturated with Trump indictment news these days because hardly a week goes by without a new twist or development. And further developments in the Biden corruption probe may force more Big Media coverage.
Even with the media gaslighting on corruption allegations against the Biden family, it can be little comfort to president’s supporters that just under 40% of Americans believe the persistent and repeated charges leveled against Trump are seen as either “exaggerated” or political “harassment.”
I&I/TIPP publishes timely, unique, and informative data each month on topics of public interest. TIPP’s reputation for polling excellence comes from being the most accurate pollster for the past five presidential elections.
Terry Jones is an editor of Issues & Insights. His four decades of journalism experience include serving as national issues editor, economics editor, and editorial page editor for Investor’s Business Daily.
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TIPP Takes
Geopolitics And Geoeconomics
1. Deal Struck To Send Second-Hand Leopard 1 Tanks From Belgium To Ukraine – Al Jazeera
Dozens of second-hand Leopard 1 tanks that once belonged to Belgium have been bought by another European country for Ukrainian forces fighting Russia’s invasion.
Freddy Versluys, CEO of defense company OIP Land Systems, said he had now sold 50 tanks to another European government, which he could not name due to a confidentiality clause.
2. West Must Keep ‘Promises’ On Ukraine Grain Deal: Turkey’s Erdogan – AFP
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the revival of a deal with Russia to allow Ukrainian grain exports, brokered by Ankara and the UN, “depends on Western countries which must keep their promises.”
Turkey was a key player in the now-collapsed deal that allowed for safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments via the Black Sea. Ankara has shied away from Western sanctions imposed on Russia but has supplied arms to Ukraine.
3. BRICS Summit, Economic Shift: Exploring A New Currency And Possible De-Dollarization – Al Arabiya
A new BRICS currency to minimize the dominance of the U.S. dollar is gaining momentum as leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — collectively known as BRICS — gear up for the economic bloc’s summit from August 22-24 in South Africa.
The bloc has sought to lower its dependence on the American dollar for over a decade. Still, the idea gained traction following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which saw the U.S. impose heavy financial sanctions on Moscow.
4. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry Reports Second Large-Scale China Air Force Incursion – Reuters
Ten Chinese air force aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense zone accompanying five Chinese warships engaged in “combat readiness” patrols, the second such incursion this week.
China staged war games around Taiwan in April after President Tsai Ing-wen returned home from a visit to the United States, where she met U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
5. China Economy Slips Into Deflation As Post-Covid Recovery Falters – AFP
Official data showed that China slipped into deflation for the first time in more than two years. The Consumer Price Index fell 0.3 in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
Deflation refers to falling prices of goods and services caused by several factors, including waning consumption.
And while cheaper goods may appear beneficial for purchasing power, falling prices threaten the broader economy as consumers tend to postpone purchases in the hopes of further reductions.
6. China Exports Take Deepest Plunge Since 2020 – D.W.
Customs data show sales of Chinese products to foreign markets in July sank year-on-year by 14.5%.
Chinese exports have constantly declined since October, except for a brief rebound in March and April. The weakened international demand for Chinese goods can be attributed to the threat of recession in the U.S. and Europe, combined with persistent high inflation.
7. China’s Economists Under Gag Orders Against Airing Worsening Bad News – Tibetan Review
According to a Financial Times report, Chinese authorities are putting pressure on prominent local economists to avoid discussing negative trends such as deflation, as concerns mount about Beijing’s ability to boost a flagging recovery.
The report cited multiple local brokerage analysts, researchers at leading universities, and state-run think tanks as saying they had been instructed by regulators, their employers, and even domestic media outlets to avoid speaking negatively about topics ranging from fears of capital flight to softening prices.
8. U.S. Vows To Defend Philippine Boats In South China Sea – Nikkei Asia
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pledged to defend Philippine vessels if attacked in the South China Sea. Beijing and Manila pointed fingers at each other after a China Coast Guard ship fired water cannons at a Philippine boat.
In a call with his Philippine counterpart, Austin reaffirmed the “ironclad nature of the U.S.-Philippines alliance.” He committed to redouble efforts to strengthen bilateral training, interoperability, and support for the modernization of the Philippine military.
9. UK Elections Regulator Hacked By ‘Hostile Actors’ – D.W.
The UK’s Electoral Commission oversees the country’s elections and said its systems had been hacked for more than a year.
The hack was found in October 2022 after suspicious activity was detected. “It became clear that hostile actors had first accessed the systems in August 2021,” the commission said.
The hackers’ identity was not disclosed, only referring to them as “hostile actors.”
10. U.S. Military Buildup In Gulf Risks ‘Dangerous’ Iran Escalation: Analysts – Al Jazeera
Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy think tank, said Biden is doubling down on his predecessor Trump’s “failed policy” of economic warfare and escalation against Iran.
“The track record of this policy – not just in the past five years but for decades – has been that it will lead to a cycle of mutual escalation, where the U.S. will escalate and Iran will counter-escalate. So, this is very dangerous,” Toossi said.
11. Niger Coup: Wagner Taking Advantage Of Instability – Antony Blinken – BBC
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he did not think Russia or Wagner instigated Niger’s coup. However, the U.S. was worried about the group “possibly manifesting itself” in parts of the Sahel region.
There have been suggestions the coup leaders have asked for help from Wagner, known to be present in neighboring Mali.
12. Australian State Axes Pro-Indigenous Law – AFP
Western Australia said it is axing a five-week-old law to protect Indigenous sites, introduced after Rio Tinto blew up a 46,000-year-old sacred rock shelter in the state.
The resource-rich state brought in the Aboriginal Heritage Act after the Anglo-Australian mining giant admitted in 2020 that it had destroyed the rock shelter to expand an iron ore mine in Juukan Gorge, Western Australia.
Indigenous groups condemned the decision to repeal the legislation.
13. Amazon Nations Fall Short Of Agreed Goal To End Deforestation – BBC
A joint declaration created an alliance to combat deforestation but left each country to pursue its conservation goals.
Ahead of the two-day summit on the issue, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had called for a common goal of ending deforestation by 2030, a policy his government has already adopted.
Preserving the Amazon is a central part of efforts to tackle climate change.
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Republished with permission from TIPP Insights
