Donald Trump Receives Polling Boost After Indictment

Rather than feeling disheartened or disappointed, Donald Trump's supporters appear to have been galvanized by the federal indictment, according to the latest polling conducted by CBS.

On Thursday, a grand jury indicted Trump on 37 counts ranging from willful retention of classified documents to obstruction charges in connection to the Department of Justice's (DOJ) probe into whether he mishandled classified documents after leaving office in January 2021.

Trump has maintained his innocence, saying that documents found at Mar-a-Lago last summer were declassified, despite a tape available to federal prosecutors and obtained by CNN showing that the former president was aware of being in possession of at least one document that he could no longer declassify.

He has accused federal prosecutors of investigating him for political reasons, once again calling out what he calls the weaponization of the American justice system against him.

A survey conducted by CBS and YouGov after the indictment was announced and made public, between June 9 and 10, shows that a majority of Trump's supporters are sold on this rhetoric.

An overwhelming 76 percent of the respondents—likely GOP primary voters—are more concerned that the indictment is politically motivated than they are worried about his alleged conduct being a national security risk, something that troubled only 12 percent of those surveyed.

Just 38 percent of likely GOP primary voters would actually consider it a national security risk if Trump had kept classified documents containing details about nuclear systems and other military information, while among the rest of the country, that figure rose to 80 percent.

Perhaps the most surprising data out of the CBS/YouGov survey showed that 61 percent of likely GOP primary voters said they're unaffected by Trump's latest indictment, while 14 percent said their view of Trump has actually changed for the better because of the charges against him.

An overwhelming majority of 80 percent of likely GOP primary voters said that Trump should be able to be elected president in 2024 even if he were to be convicted over keeping classified documents after leaving office and obstructing federal searches. Only 20 percent of respondents said a conviction should prevent Trump from becoming president.

The polling shows that despite his legal woes Trump is still the Republicans' favorite candidate for the upcoming presidential election. According to a wider survey conducted by CBS and YouGov between June 7 and 10, 61 percent of respondents said they would support Trump in the GOP primary when asked who would they vote for today.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis trailed Trump with 23 percent of the votes, followed by Tim Scott and Mike Pence with 4 percent of the votes each. Nikki Haley had the support of 3 percent of respondents.