More than 60 percent of Americans surveyed said they oppose President-elect Donald Trump pardoning his supporters who were convicted in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a new poll.
Trump, who will return to the White House next month after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race, told NBC News’ Kristen Welker in an interview during the weekend that he would consider granting pardons to those convicted during the riot of early 2021, when a swarm of his proponents violently resisted the 2020 presidential election results. Before the attack, Trump repeatedly spread unproven claims of widespread voter fraud.
“I’m going to look at everything. I’m going to look at individual cases, but I’m going to be acting very quickly,” Trump said, adding that he would begin the review on his first day in office.
The president-elect also said there would be some exceptions to his pardons for those who are “radical” or “crazy,” but that he believes the rioters have “suffered long and hard.”
Allison Robbert-Pool/Getty Images
A Monmouth University poll found that a majority of Americans wouldn’t support Trump granting pardons to January 6 rioters.
The poll, which surveyed 1,006 adults from December 5 to December 10, asked respondents, “Would you approve or disapprove of Trump pardoning people who were convicted of attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021?”
Sixty-one percent said they would disapprove, compared to only 34 percent who said they would support it. An additional 5 percent said they weren’t sure.
The poll also found that a majority of Americans disapprove of President Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter Biden, who this year pleaded guilty to tax fraud charges and was separately convicted of firearm counts.
The pardon, which faced rebuke from both Republicans and Democrats, sparked calls from some conservatives for January 6 pardons.
Thirty-two percent said they either “somewhat” or “strongly” approve of the pardon, while 58 percent said they “somewhat” or “strongly” disapprove.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
More than 1,000 people have been charged with actions tied to January 6. At least 547 have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees, according to the Department of Justice.
Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for the Trump transition team, and incoming White House press secretary, previously told Newsweek that Trump will “make pardon decisions on a case-by-case basis for those who were denied due process and unfairly targeted by the justice system.”
Newsweek reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment via email.
