Majority in new poll says Trump should be criminally charged for his role in Jan. 6 riot
WASHINGTON – Almost six out of 10 Americans want former President Donald Trump criminally charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll shows.
The poll found that 58% of Americans think Trump should be held accountable for the role he played in the riot, which is higher than in late April, when it was 52% in an ABC News/Washington Post poll.
By party, the poll found that 91% of Democrats believe the former president should be criminally charged , compared to only 19% of Republicans.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., one of two Republicans on the House Select Committee investigating the riot on Jan. 6 , said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week” that Trump is “guilty of knowing what he did” leading up to the attack.
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The special congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attackheld its third round of public hearings last week, spotlighting the intense pressure former Vice President Mike Pence received from Trump to overturn the 2020 election results.
A majority of those surveyed – 60% – said they believe Jan. 6 committee is “conducting a fair and impartial investigation,” up from 40% in April.
Day 3 hearing takeaways:Miss Day 3 of the Jan. 6 hearing? Pence’s role opposing insurrection takes center stage
The panel on Thursday heard from multiple witnesses who outlined Trump’s effort to lobby his vice president to reject electoral votes for Joe Biden during the official certification of state results.
“We’re fortunate for Mr. Pence’s courage on Jan. 6,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss, chair of the committee. “Our democracy came dangerously close to catastrophe.”
The poll was conducted June 17-18 with a nationally representative probability sample of 545. It has a sampling error margin of 4.5 percentage points.
Contributing: Phillip M Bailey