NEW YORK — About half of U.S. adults approve of Donald Trump's recent felony conviction, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey shows some potential vulnerabilities, along with some signs of resilience in his support, as Trump tries to become the first American with a felony record to win the presidency.
Less than five months before Election Day, the poll paints a picture of a nation with firmly entrenched opinions of the divisive former Republican president. Overall views of Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden remain unchanged since before the guilty verdict in Trump's New York hush money trial.
But the findings also suggest that Trump's conviction is one more weakness among disaffected Republicans. While most people in the United States have heard about the conviction, political independents are less likely to be paying attention and more likely to have a neutral opinion of Trump's conviction, indicating that there may still be room for the campaigns to sway them.
Nancy Hauser, a 74-year-old independent from West Palm Beach, Florida, said she approves of Trump's conviction based on the little she followed of the trial. The verdict, she said, suggests that Trump may be willing to engage in criminal activity if he were back in the White House.
''I feel if you've been convicted of a crime, especially a felony, a serious crime, how can you run a country?'' she said.
But she also has concerns about Biden, especially his age and leadership on the economy and the war in Israel. Biden is 81, while Trump turns 78 on Friday.
''I'm not sure who I'm voting for,'' Hauser said. ''That's the sad part.''
Overall, U.S. adults are more likely to approve of Trump's conviction than they are to disapprove, according to a survey of 1,115 adults nationwide conducted over three days beginning a week after the verdict was delivered May 30, and before Biden's son Hunter was convicted in a federal gun case on Tuesday.