Donald Trump ‘very popular’ among fellow convicted criminals

A new survey has found that former President Donald Trump is “very popular” among fellow convicted felons.

The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization focused on criminal justice reporting, surveyed 54,000 people in 785 prisons across 45 states and Washington, DC. The majority of white respondents (60 percent) said they would vote for Trump. A minority of black men (39 percent) said they would vote for the Republican candidate. Of those polled, only seven percent said they would not vote.

“We understand that Republicans are very tough on criminals and even tougher on us during our incarceration, yet Trump remains very popular here,” Enrique Banda-Garcia, a Trump supporter imprisoned at the Washington State Penitentiary, told The Marshall Project.

Trump, who was convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying company records as part of a scheme to cover up an alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels. Each count of falsifying business records is a class E misdemeanor. Under New York state law, this is punishable by a fine and up to five years in prison, but because it is a first-time non-violent offense, the former president is unlikely to serve any prison time.

Trump denounced the verdict as a “disgrace” and said it was a “rigged trial” and maintained his innocence. The historic verdict marked the first time a former U.S. president was convicted of a crime.

The majority of Republican inmates did not believe Trump should be locked up for his crimes, with 46 percent saying he should be fined and 11 percent saying he should be locked up. 56 percent of Democrats were in favor of Trump’s incarceration.

Of the 54,000 respondents, 35 percent identified as independents, 22 percent as Republicans and 18 percent as Democrats. Although independents are the predominant political identity in prison, nearly half (46 percent) of this group said they would vote for Trump if given the chance.

From behind bars, a majority of Democratic-identifying prisoners (79 percent) say the country is ready for a female president. Republican prisoners, on the other hand, aren’t so sure, with only 34 percent saying the country is ready. The Marshall Project Report.

Vice President Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor, has garnered a mix of opinions among the incarcerated population. Sixty-four percent of Republican respondents had an unfavorable opinion of Harris, while 72 percent of Democratic respondents had a favorable opinion.

In her presidential bid, Harris has continually highlighted her record as a prosecutor. During her first meeting as a nominee, Harris said she has taken on “all types of perpetrators.”

“Predators who abused women, fraudsters who defrauded consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type,” the vice president said.

Newsweek has contacted the Trump and Harris campaigns via email outside normal business hours for comment.

According to Human Rights Watch, by 2022, more than 4.4 million people in the US were disenfranchised due to felony convictions, and thousands of eligible voters were unable to cast their ballots.

According to The Sentencing Project, approximately 2 million people with felony convictions have regained the right to vote since the 1990s. Only a small number of states allow people in prison to vote, and while people in prison can vote, many do not because of obstacles.

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