The public is split on whether former President Donald Trump should go to prison after a New York jury found him guilty of criminally concealing a hush payment to a porn star near the 2016 election. But a clear majority approves of Hunter Biden’s gun charge conviction and thinks he should do time.
Views about Mr. Trump’s plight fall along partisan lines but, overall, 48% of Americans think Mr. Trump should do time while 50% think he should not, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs.
Half of independents think Mr. Trump should spend time in the slammer while 46% do not. Meanwhile, 78% of Democrats think he should go to prison and only 12% of Republicans want him behind bars.
Mr. Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for president, faces up to four years in prison on his conviction of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He is unlikely to face a lengthy term, given his lack of a criminal record and the logistics of sending the Secret Service into prison with him.
State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan is grappling with whether there will be a sentencing at all. He pushed back the sentencing hearing to Sept. 18 to consider if the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity should invalidate the conviction.
Defense attorneys say prosecutors submitted improper evidence about Mr. Trump’s official acts as president. Prosecutors disagree but said they were fine with a delay to argue and settle the defense motion in the coming weeks.
The sentencing date falls weeks after Mr. Trump is set to accept the GOP nomination in Milwaukee and several weeks before Election Day. The former president is set for a rematch against President Biden, unless the Democratic incumbent steps aside because of concerns about his age and cognitive abilities after a poor debate performance.
A federal jury in Delaware found the president’s son guilty of three felony charges related to his 2018 purchase of a gun. Prosecutors said Hunter Biden lied on an application form by claiming he was not addicted to or using drugs.
The AP poll said 60% of people approved of the conviction while roughly a third, 32%, did not. Nearly six in 10 Democrats approved of the conviction and half of them said he should face prison time.
Overall, 57% said Hunter Biden should face prison time and 41% did not think prison was warranted.
While Hunter Biden received less sympathy in the poll, the public was more likely to be familiar with Mr. Trump’s case. Seventy-seven percent of people had heard or read “a lot or some” about the case compared to 60% who kept up with news about Hunter Biden.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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