Poll: Voters Believe It Would Be Inappropriate of Trump to Pardon His Family Members

The New York Times reported last week that President Donald Trump had discussed with his advisers the possibility of pardoning his three elder children––Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump––as well as his attorney, Rudy Giuliani. And now a Morning Consult-Politico poll has found that more voters believe it would be inappropriate of the president to pardon his family members.

The poll, published earlier today, found:

• That 51% of voters believe it would be inappropriate to pardon Ivanka Trump, who has served as one of the president’s most senior advisers. 24% said it would be appropriate; 23 percent said they did not know or did not have an opinion on the matter.
• That 54% of voters believe it would be inappropriate to pardon Donald Trump Jr. 24% said doing so would be appropriate, while another 23% said they did not know.
• That 52% of voters believe it would be inappropriate to pardon Eric Trump. 24% said it would be appropriate, and another 26% did not have an opinion.
• That 48% of voters said it would be inappropriate to pardon Rudy Giuliani. 23% said it would be appropriate; 29% did not have an opinion.
• That 47% of voters said it would be inappropriate to pardon adviser Jared Kushner, who is married to the president’s daughter Ivanka. 19% said doing so would be appropriate and 34% did not have an opinion.

The poll of 1,990 registered voters, which has a margin of error of 2 percentage points, was conducted between December 4 and December 6, after the Times story dropped and after Politico reported that the president is considering pardoning a significant portion of his inner circle.

“The news is chiefly resonating among the president’s detractors: 34 percent of voters who have an unfavorable view of him said they’d heard a lot about a potential pardoning spree, compared to 15 percent of those with a favorable view of him who said the same,” Morning Consult observed.

The poll also indicated there is a sharp divide along party lines, with more Republicans than Democrats favoring federal pardons outright.

Alan Ryland

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.