Contrary to what you might encounter on social media, most Americans have neither studied nor practiced criminal law. Understandably then, when forced by current events to evaluate a high-profile allegation of criminal malfeasance, they use a variety of tools to navigate the issue. Friends and family, trusted public commentators, the summaries of the case they encounter on television and in print, and their general assessment of the forces arrayed on both sides of the issue inform their analysis. Americans who do not benefit from jury instructions handed down by a judge can often hold competing and even contradictory thoughts about a particular case in their heads. That seems to describe how the public views Donald Trump’s many legal woes.
On Wednesday, the New York Times unveiled the portions of the latest survey it conducted alongside Siena College pollsters that tested Americans’ views toward the legal cases against Trump. That’s a remarkably broad category given the many criminal trials the former president will have to sit through in the near future. Still, the generalization is helpful insofar as it bundles together all Trump’s alleged malfeasance into one unwieldy package.
Comments