New polling is suggesting that a majority of the nation believes President Joe Biden is trying to win reelection by jailing his opponent. According to a survey from McLaughlin and Associates, almost 70% of American voters agree that the multiple indictments against former President Donald Trump are politically motivated, with half of all voters saying politics has played a “major” role in the lawfare campaign against the Republican presidential candidate.
Nearly 60% of voters also believe that Biden has played a role in the Trump indictments, including almost 40% of Democrats. Over half (52%) of voters said they believe that the lawfare campaign against Trump is intended to keep him from running for president, and 56% of voters — including a third of Democrats — said they believe that “Joe Biden wants to stop President Trump from winning the election by putting him in jail…”
Another 56% of voters agreed — including 41% who “strongly” agreed — that Biden’s Justice Department has been weaponized and employs double standards, unfairly targeting Republicans and conservatives while offering “sweetheart deals to Joe Biden and his family members when the evidence shows Joe Biden and his family have failed to pay their taxes, taken bribes and extorted money from our enemies such as the Communist Chinese and Russia…” Nearly 60% of voters agreed that Biden’s Justice Department should not be “interfering with the upcoming presidential election” by targeting Trump and should instead “let the voters decide who the next president should be.”
This month’s Harvard CAPS/Harris poll showed similar results, with 57% of voters agreeing that “the Democrats today are engaged in lawfare — a campaign using the government and the legal system in biased ways to take out a political opponent…” Fifty-four percent said that the Trump indictments are politically motivated and 53% said that they don’t think Trump will be convicted. Additionally, 54% of voters said that they would back Trump for president even if a jury convicted him “of crimes related to his handling of classified presidential documents.” This is up four points from last month, after U.S. Special Prosecutor Robert Hur declined to prosecute Biden for the same crime that Trump allegedly committed.
Both polls also found that Biden’s popularity is continuing to flounder. Biden’s job approval rating is hovering in the low-to-mid 40s, having remained below 50% since August of 2021. Biden’s economic policies are also still negatively impacting Americans. According to McLaughlin and Associates, inflation is the single most important issue to Americans (23%), though immigration is second place (14%). Inflation is also of major concern (33%) according to the Harvard/Harris poll, but takes second place to immigration (36%), although respondents did say that inflation has impacted them personally the most. Over 70% of voters also said that inflation is “here to stay.”
Additionally, both polls predicted Trump beating Biden in November, though by a relatively narrow margin. Trump has a six-point lead over Biden according to McLaughlin and Associates and a three-point lead according to Harvard/Harris, with nearly 10% undecided in both instances. When Harvard/Harris pollsters asked undecided voters which way they lean, the margin narrowed, with Trump beating Biden 51% to 49%. This represents a two-point decrease in support for Trump since last month and an increase for Biden.
Over the past few months, polling has almost unanimously predicted Trump defeating Biden in November, though by varying margins. A spate of surveys released since early this year have shown Trump leading Biden, significantly among Independent voters, and a recent series of polls from Emerson College/The Hill show Trump leading Biden in battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.