When YouGov pollsters asked Republicans in April whether someone convicted of a felony should be allowed to be president, 17% said yes. When they asked Republicans the same question between May 31 and June 2, 58% answered affirmatively. That remarkable 41-point uptick can most readily be explained by one event in between the two polls: former President Donald Trump's felony conviction for falsifying business records on May 30.
This shift can be summarized as Republicans expediently brushing aside their beliefs on the disqualifying nature of felony convictions to hold on to their preference for Trump in the White House. (The share of Democrats saying "yes" barely shifted, by contrast, from 10% to 12%.) But these two polls can also be understood as a proxy for something deeper: Republicans' increasing mistrust of the criminal justice system itself.
This is a preview of Zeeshan Aleem's latest article. Read the full column here.
