Just 48% of Americans believe that Donald Trump should go to jail for his "hush money" conviction, despite the efforts of Democrats to convince voters that he committed a serious offense.
The Associated Press poll found that 50% of Americans believe Trump should not face jail when he is sentenced in September - and just 46% approve of Trump's conviction.
Since Trump was found guilty on May 30 of vague crimes involving "hush money" payments, Democrats have repeatedly attacked Trump as a "convicted felon."
At the same time, Democrats have pointed to Hunter Biden's guilty conviction to argue that the justice system that convicted Trump is even-handed. But Americans clearly see the two cases differently.
The Associated Press poll found that roughly 60% of voters believe Hunter Biden should face time behind bars for his felony gun conviction. The results suggest that Americans believe Hunter Biden's crime is more tangible than Trump's alleged bookkeeping offense.
“I don’t think the particular crime deserves time,” said Christopher Smith, a 43-year-old independent in Tennessee. “I see what he did, lying on business records because of an affair, as more of a moral crime."
Unsurprisingly, about 8 in 10 Democrats think Trump should face prison time but only 49% of independents say the same. 46% say he should not.
Only four in ten Americans are confident that Trump was treated fairly by the judge, prosecutors, and jurors, and just 46% of Americans approve of the conviction.
The findings mesh with Trump's argument that the case against him was politically motivated.
It appears there is more of a public consensus that Hunter Biden actually broke the law: 60% of Americans support Hunter's conviction for lying about his drug use to purchase a gun.
The poll is just more bad news for Democrats, who are already facing a possible wipeout this November as Joe Biden crumbles in public following his debate disaster.
Biden has latched onto Trump's felony conviction to attack his rival, but the public apparently isn't convinced that Trump's "crime" is a huge deal.
Trump's sentencing was set for July 11 but has been delayed until September after Trump asked the judge to toss the verdict.
The survey polled 1,088 U.S. adults from June 20-24.
