A new poll finds that a majority of Americans, regardless of party affiliation, say they approve of the recent gun conviction of President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
of Economist/YouGov Survey It found that 67 percent of respondents strongly or somewhat support Hunter Biden’s conviction.
Earlier this month, a 12-person jury in Delaware found the former vice president guilty of three felony counts of lying about his illegal drug use when applying to buy a gun in 2018.
On the Democratic side, about 62% of Biden supporters said they supported the ruling, while about 22% said they weren’t sure and 20% opposed, according to the survey.
Among Republican supporters of former President Trump, 86% of poll respondents said they supported conviction, with just 9% unsure and 5% disapproving.
Pollsters also noted that the results differ significantly from a similar poll conducted last month after Trump was convicted in the hush-money case, which found that nearly all Biden supporters supported conviction while many Trump supporters disapproved.
In Hunter Biden’s trial, which began shortly after the hush money trial ended, his lawyers focused on his past crack cocaine addiction. Prosecutors argued that the case wasn’t just about drugs, but about Hunter Biden’s decision to lie on government documents when purchasing a firearm.
The president’s son faces up to 25 years in prison and a $750,000 fine, but sentences are often lighter than the maximum, especially for first-time offenders. The Sentencing Commission expects that a defendant like Hunter Biden would typically receive between 15 and 21 months in prison, but the final decision is up to the judge.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika has not yet set a sentencing date.
The president has stressed that he has no plans to pardon his son but will accept the outcome of the trial, but the White House has not ruled out the possibility of commuting Hunter Biden’s sentence once the judge sentences him.
Biden also faces separate charges in California of failing to pay $1.4 million in back taxes and filing false tax returns, a case that could go to trial in September.
The Economist/YouGov poll was conducted among 1,600 people between June 16-18 and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
