News of former President Donald Trump’s indictment by a Miami grand jury Thursday was stunning, if not entirely surprising. There had been indications leading up to the announcement that it was imminent. One would be hard-pressed to find people who don’t have an opinion regarding the former president, and the same holds true regarding the latest indictment.

According to a new ABC/Ipsos Poll, fielded June 9-10, 2023, nearly half of those surveyed believe Trump should have been indicted (regarding the classified document retention). The poll found 48 percent of the 910 respondents agree that Trump should have been charged with a crime in this case, while 35 percent believe he should not, and 17 percent said they do not know. Additionally, 46 percent believe Trump should suspend his campaign.

At the same time, nearly the same number of respondents — 47 percent — believe the latest charges are politically motivated, while 37 percent assert they are not.

Overall, there was little shift in these positions from a similar poll conducted in April following the indictment secured by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in relation to alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. However, there was one notable shift, and that was as to the seriousness of the charges. While only 52 percent felt the charges in the initial indictment were serious, 61 percent of respondents in the latest poll believe the classified documents charges are serious — and the biggest shift on that issue comes from Republicans.

This movement is driven by Americans across the political spectrum. Notably, however, the biggest increase is among Republicans. Now, 38% of Republicans view the federal indictment charges as serious, compared to 21% in April. Democrats have shifted slightly (7 percentage point increase), though the vast majority believed April’s charges to be serious (91% now, 84% then). Nearly two in three independents (63%) view these charges as serious, compared to 54% in April.

Not only does the poll reflect a 17 percent shift on the seriousness of the charges for Republicans, it also shows 63 percent of independents holding that view (up from 54 percent in April).

While the latest survey consisted of 910 respondents, it should be noted that 411 of the respondents were Republican. (150 were Democrats and 287 were independents.)

While the arraignment is set for Tuesday, the former president has vowed to remain in the race for the GOP nomination. As RedState’s Brittany Sheehan writes:

Former President Donald Trump has declared his intention to run for the White House in 2024, even if convicted. Trump faces 37 counts related to documents seized from the infamous raid at Mar-a-Lago last August. Trump maintains his innocence, and calls the federal case a “boxes hoax” and a “witch hunt.” 

The former President made two campaign stops, giving 90-minute speeches in both Georgia and North Carolina on Saturday. Trump’s supporters lined the side of the highway running parallel to the runway at the airport in Columbus, Ga., where Trump’s jet would be touching down, while others, including Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, greeted him on the tarmac.

Aboard his private plane between stops, Trump told reporters: 

I’ll never leave. Look, if I would have left, I would have left prior to the original race in 2016. That was a rough one. In theory that was not do-able.

Safe to assume the former president won’t be paying much heed to this latest poll. What will be interesting to see in the coming days is whether this latest indictment affects his overall polling numbers, which presently have him holding a decided advantage in the GOP primary.

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