Donald Trump has been charged over efforts to overturn the 2020 election defeat in the state of Georgia. This is the first time in political history that a former US president faces criminal charges. And that’s not Donald Trump’s first criminal case, as the former president is facing three other criminal cases that were brought against him in the last five months.

The former US president has been indicted, along with 18 other allies. The 98-page indictment listed 41 charges against the 19 defendants altogether. Donald Trump denied all 13 charges against him and said they were politically motivated.

The 2020 election fraud case mentioned an alleged scheme to tamper with voting machines and submit a false list of electors.

Besides the 2020 election fraud charges against Trump, some of the other felony charges are: Racketeering, conspiracy to impersonate a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, and making false statements and filing false documents.

In January 2021, Donald Trump was recorded on a phone call asking the Georgia Secretary of State to claim that they miscalculated the votes. He said, “There’s nothing wrong with saying that you’ve recalculated . . . I just want to find 11,780 votes.” A number that would have caused Donald Trump to win over the current US president, Joe Biden, in that state.

The news sent a shocking wave around the world, and Real Research, an online survey app, launched a survey to hear public opinion on the 2020 election fraud charges against former US president.

Highlights:

  • Imprisonment is the most probable outcome of the 2020 election fraud charges against Trump, said 41.52%
  • 60.62% are willing to see Donald Trump’s televised trial.
  • Nearly half (49.88%) believe the 2020 election fraud charges against Trump will probably impact his candidacy for the 2024 elections.

2020 Election Fraud Charges Against Trump

Ex-President Donald Trump was charged over efforts to overturn the 2020 election along with 18 other allies. 46.79% were well aware of this, 38.99% were vaguely aware, and 14.22% were completely unaware.

Three in four people were concerned that this was the fourth criminal case to be brought against the former U.S. president. To elaborate on this, 43.38% were somewhat concerned, 31.63% were very concerned, and 24.99% weren’t at all.

The 2020 election fraud charges against Trump might not interfere with his presidential plans in the 2024 election. Although he has been charged with multiple crimes, the BBC stated that Trump can still run for the presidency. 49.88% said the charges would probably impact his candidacy, and 35.69% were sure they would. On the other hand, 11.82% guessed it wouldn’t have an impact, and only 2.61% were sure that it wouldn’t.

Trumps-bid-to-reclaim-the-presidency-in-2024
Figure 1: Do you think these charges will impact Trump’s bid to reclaim the presidency in 2024?

Not all the criminal charges Donald Trump is facing are the same; two of them are brought by prosecutors at the state level and two by the US government. There are many differences between the two, but one of these is that state-level trials can be televised while the other bans cameras in court.

Donald Trump would become the first former US president to have a televised trial, a phenomenon 60.62% would be willing to watch, while 39.38% weren’t interested.

As we said earlier, Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to trying to overturn the 2020 election defeat, but 70.95% thought he was guilty. 47.70% somewhat believe that Donald Trump is guilty, 25.14% to some extent disbelieve, 23.25% strongly believe,  and 3.91% strongly disbelieve.

Trump-is-guilty-of-trying-to-undo-his-2020-election-defeat
Figure 2: Do you believe Trump is guilty of trying to undo his 2020 election defeat in Georgia?

While some believe that many of these charges are more likely to mean a fine than prison time if convicted, some of the cases are serious and could mean time behind bars. Imprisonment is seen as the most probable outcome by 41.52%, and on the contrary, 30.61% said if Trump is proven guilty, he won’t probably be imprisoned. 24.04% believe imprisonment is the absolute outcome, and only 3.83% strongly oppose it.

While legal actions involving political figures are a sensitive topic, 44.92% were somewhat optimistic that justice would be served in this case. 30.65% strongly believed so, 20.97% had a somewhat pessimistic view, and 3.46% were extremely pessimistic.

Methodology

Survey TitlePublic Opinion On 2020 Election Fraud Charges Against Former US President
DurationAugust 22 – August 29, 2021
Number of Participants10,000
DemographicsMales and females, aged 21 to 99
Participating Countries Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia,… Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, China (Hong Kong) China (Macao), China (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greanada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Maldives, Maluritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar [Burma], Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.