Former President Donald Trump’s conviction on felony charges by a Manhattan court has fired up his Granite State supporters and, for the moment at least, rallied some reluctant Republicans to his cause, according to a survey of NHJournal readers.
“I’m surprised by how angry I am,” one NHJournal reader said. “I was ‘I guess I have to vote for Trump.’ Now I’m completely MAGA.”
More than 400 NHJournal newsletter subscribers responded to the survey, which is not scientific, but does offer an insight into how center-right Granite Staters who follow politics see the issue.
They overwhelmingly view the case liberal NYC District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought against Trump as driven by politics, not the rule of law. The largest group (45 percent) said Trump did nothing wrong, while another 40 percent said Trump may have broken the law, “but he was only prosecuted because he’s Donald Trump.”
In the First in the Nation presidential primary, just 47 percent of the respondents voted for Trump, fewer than his 54 percent share of the vote. But now, nearly 80 percent said they plan to vote for him in November, and more than half said they “can’t wait to vote for Donald Trump.”
They aren’t interested in nuance from the GOP when it comes to responding to the verdict, either.
When asked what they wanted to hear from New Hampshire Republican candidates regarding the Trump verdict, 73 percent chose, “What happened to Donald Trump was an outrage, and I want to fight it!”
Just over 22 percent chose “Donald Trump had his day in court and we must respect the rule of law.”
Only four percent responded, “Never Trump.”
New Hampshire state party chair Chris Ager isn’t surprised. He spent Sunday participating in a “Trump Train” rally, with supporters gathering in Manchester to drive to the American Legion in Pelham, waving Trump flags and rallying support.
More than 400 people showed up, a far larger crowd than expected.
“Their enthusiasm was off the charts,” Ager told NHJournal. “These people will crawl over broken glass to vote for President Trump.”
In Rockingham County, the mood is similar, says GOP county chair Jason Grosky.
“This sham trial has only rallied the grassroots Republicans here. Moving forward, the potential is there to pick up some Democrats who aren’t pleased with Biden already and independents who are infuriated seeing this administration behave like a third-world country.”
NHJournal survey respondents also believe the verdict will be a net benefit to Trump’s campaign, though there’s a significant split.
While 56 percent say it will pump up turnout and help Trump, another 38 percent believe it will be a wash.
“I want to think people are going to be angry and will want to punish Democrats for what they’ve done, but how many regular people followed this case?” one reader said. “How many will know anything except Trump was convicted?”
Ager believes they will.
“Americans value fairness and we’re not seeing that. The persecution of Donald Trump is moving more and more voters his direction.”
As of late Sunday night, however, the polling on that issue was unclear. In fact, most of the snap polls in the two days after the verdict found a slight shift toward President Biden, though not a major move.
And though the vast majority of respondents wanted the GOP to get angry over Trump’s treatment by the New York justice system, a plurality described their own response as sadness rather than anger.
If there’s any trepidation, it’s about how Trump’s status as a “convicted felon” will play among Granite State voters. While a majority of respondents said it would be a win for Trump nationwide, just 44 percent feel the same about its impact on New Hampshire. Nearly 20 percent said it will help Biden and 37 percent said it would be a wash.
“It’s so hard to say in New Hampshire,” one GOP insider told NHJournal. “The base is energized, no doubt. Ager is right. But you need more than Republicans to win this state, and this isn’t Alabama. This may give people who vote Democrat another reason to vote Democrat.”
But an NHJournal reader thinks his experience will be more common.
“Before they indicted him, I was not going to vote for Trump. After they indicted him, I decided to vote for Trump. Now, I have to vote for Trump. We all do.”
