Trump’s Jan. 6 pardon would be unpopular: Poll

More than 60 percent of Americans polled said they oppose the president-elect Donald Trump pardoned supporters convicted in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, according to a new poll.

Trump, who will return to the White House next month after defeating Vice Pres Kamala Harris in the presidential election, told NBC News’ Kristen Welker in an interview over the weekend that he would consider granting pardons to those convicted during the riots in early 2021, when a swarm of his supporters violently opposed the results of the 2020 presidential election. Before the attack, Trump spread repeated unproven allegations of widespread voter fraud.

“I will look at everything. I will look at individual cases, but I will act 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 troublemakers have “suffered long and hard.”

A Monmouth University poll found that a majority of Americans would not support Trump granting pardons to rioters on January 6.

The poll, which surveyed 1,006 adults from Dec. 5 to Dec. 10, asked respondents, “Would you approve or disapprove of Trump pardoning people convicted of attacking the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021?”

61 percent said they would reject it, compared to just 34 percent who said they would support it. Another 5 percent said they weren’t sure.

The survey also showed that a majority of Americans are opposed President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Bidenwho this year pleaded guilty to tax fraud and was separately convicted of firearms charges.

The pardon, which met with rebuke from both Republicans and democratstriggered calls from some conservatives for a pardon on January 6.

Thirty-two percent said they either “somewhat” or “strongly” approve of the pardon, while 58 percent said they “somewhat” or “strongly” oppose it.

The measurement had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

More than 1,000 people have been charged with acts linked to January 6. At least 547 have been charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing officers or employees, according to Ministry of Justice.

Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team and future White House press secretary, previously told Newsweek that Trump will “make clemency 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.