A new poll released the day after ex-President Donald Trump’s arrest shows a whopping 62 percent of Americans believe Trump “committed a crime” — with a surge of 12 points in two weeks among independents.

Thursday marked a startling day in American history, as Trump became the first U.S. president to pose for a mugshot as he was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia on 13 counts related to election crimes in a sweeping RICO case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

The arrest was a three-ring media circus in which every detail was covered in breathless real-time, and reporters anxiously awaited the release of the mugshot, which immediately became the featured image on a cornucopia of campaign merchandise.

Trumpworld has tried to project an air of defiant relish about the ordeal, but a Navigator Research poll released just after the arrest shows what a steep hill Trump has to sell that view to Americans who aren’t in his camp.

Here are some of the poll’s key findings:

More than three in five Americans believe that Donald Trump has committed a crime (net +32; 62 percent committed a crime – 30 percent did not commit a crime), including independents by 49 points (67 percent committed a crime – 18 percent did not), nine in ten Democrats (net +87; 92 percent committed a crime – 5 percent did not), and nearly three in ten Republicans (net -33; 28 percent committed a crime – 18 percent did not).

Roughly seven in ten Americans — including similar shares among independents — believe that the indictments brought so far against Trump are serious, and about 60 percent say the same about whether they are legitimate investigations compared to just two in five who say they are “witch hunts,” with little differentiation based on the charges asked about:

Donald Trump was indicted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election leading up to the January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, with charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States (70 percent serious charges; 59 percent legitimate investigation);

  • Donald Trump was indicted for mishandling classified documents from his time as President, with charges including obstruction of justice and destruction or falsification of records (70 percent serious charges; 59 percent legitimate investigation);
  • Donald Trump was indicted in Georgia for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, with charges including a violation of the state racketeering law, conspiracy to impersonate a public officer, forgery, and making false statements to government officials and law enforcement (69 percent serious charges; 58 percent legitimate investigation);
  • Donald Trump was indicted in Manhattan for falsifying business records, with charges including allegedly using campaign funds for personal expenses including a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and then lying about it (64 percent serious charges; 59 percent legitimate investigation).

That “committed a crime” number represents a 12-point swing among independent voters in just two weeks — and that was before the latest arrest and mugshot.

Read the full report here.

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