Nearly three in five voters (59%) believe Donald Trump broke the law at some point while he was in office, and a 56% majority support the Justice Department filing criminal charges against Trump for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The poll, conducted by the progressive consortium Navigator Research, found that registered voters support charging Trump on four different grounds: obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the government, making knowingly and willfully false statements to the federal government, and inciting or assisting an insurrection.
Respondents also backed the House select committee's investigation into Jan. 6 by a two-to-one margin, with 61% in support and 30% opposed. Independents supported the House probe by a 23-point margin, 53% - 30%, and a slim plurality of non-MAGA Republicans also supported it, 44% - 42%.
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Navigator also tested the staying power of both Trump and Trumpism. One question asked whether respondents believed the Republican Party should head in a new direction or if it should stay on the course laid out by Trump.
Overall, a solid 71% majority of Americans wanted the GOP to take a new direction, including 78% of independents, while just 29% believed Republicans should stay on Trump's path.
The survey also made an explicit effort to delineate between MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans, asking respondents what they believed was the best path forward for the Republican Party—taking a new direction, sticking with both Trump and the path he laid out, or sticking with Trump's vision but finding a new leader for the party.
A 43% plurality of Republicans wanted to stick with both Trump and his vision; 36% wanted to continue on Trump's path but with a new leader of the party; and 21% of Republicans wanted the party to head in a new direction.
Among MAGA Republicans, 63% favored sticking with Trump, while a 40% plurality of non-MAGA Republicans wanted to continue down Trump's path but with a new leader.
The survey also tested the popularity of both parties along with that of MAGA Republicans, in particular. The Democratic party fared best at 45% favorable — 51% unfavorable, 6 points underwater. The Republican Party was 17 points underwater, at 39% favorable — 56% unfavorable. But MAGA Republicans took the biggest hit at net -23, 30% favorable — 53% unfavorable.
The results are exactly why the Biden White House shifted last year to specifically targeting “MAGA” Republicans in many of the president’s speeches leading up to the midterms.