Most Americans believe that a president should be able to be charged with a crime while in office, according to a new Quinnipiac Poll released Wednesday.
Overall, 71 percent of respondents said that sitting presidents should be subject to indictment; 21 percent said they shouldn’t. Forty-nine percent of Republicans said yes; 38 percent said no.
The matter has been subject to intense debate in recent months, as several of President Trump‘s associates have pleaded guilty to felonies, including campaign-finance violations, and in anticipation of Robert Mueller‘s findings in the Russia investigation. Some legal experts say a sitting president is not subject to indictment until he or she leaves office; others, including Clinton-era special counsel Ken Starr, say a sitting president can be charged with a criminal offense.
The Quinnipiac survey found that Trump has a 39 percent approval rating, down 2 points from one month ago. Fifty-four percent of respondents disapprove of his performance.
But there isn’t majority support to begin impeachment proceedings. Sixty percent of respondents said that Congress should not start Trump’s impeachment hearings. Only 35 percent said Congress should.
Yet the poll held other bad news for President Trump. Fifty-six percent of voters say that Trump does not respect the rule of law. Forty percent said he does.
Sixty percent of voters say they don’t have confidence in the way the White House is being run (38 percent say they do), and 62 percent say Trump doesn’t choose the best people to be part of his administration (34 percent say he does).
The poll was conducted from Dec. 12 through 17, before Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis announced his resignation on Thursday.
The poll also found that potential Democratic 2020 presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden has a 53 percent favorability rating. Trump’s favorability rating is 40 percent.
