New York Times In Disarray, Can't Decide If Trump Support Fragile Or Strong Like Bull

Yes, it's definitely that!

‘You can say that again!’ Photo by Jakayla Toney on Unsplash

Some headline fun from the New York Times today, on two different stories drawn from the latest 2024 election poll from the Times and Siena College. In contrast to a number of recent polls, this one didn’t show Joe Biden losing like a lizard to Donald Trump; instead, the “if the election were held today” results, including “leaners,” were 46 percent for Trump and 44 percent for Biden. Among “likely voters,” Biden actually led Trump by two points, 47 percent to 45 percent. Yes, that’s really the poll result, though you have to click the “likely voters” button to see it.

You might think that apparent comeback from November’s OMG BIDEN IS TOAST poll would be headline-worthy, but instead, the Times’s top story led with the fact that, among those who said they’d vote in the Republican primaries, 62 percent said Trump should be the GOP nominee, “even if he is convicted of a crime,” while 32 percent said he shouldn’t.

That story ran with the headline “Trump’s Legal Jeopardy Hasn’t Hurt His G.O.P. Support, Times/Siena Poll Finds” and the subheading,

“More than 60 percent of Republicans think that if the former president wins the primary he should remain the party’s nominee — even if he is subsequently convicted of a federal crime.”

But the Times also ran a second story focusing on how that “legal jeopardy” might sway some Republican voters, although instead of going with the top-line figure that nearly a third of self-identified Republican primary voters said he shouldn’t be the nominee if he’s convicted, the story burrowed into the poll’s crosstabs to look only at likely GOP primary voters who plan to vote for Trump in 2024, finding that 24 percent of them wouldn’t want Trump to be the nominee if he were convicted.

For that story, the Times headline is “Nearly a Quarter of Trump Voters Say He Shouldn’t Be Nominated if Convicted” and the subhed,

While Donald Trump’s Republican support remains robust, a not-insignificant minority of his backers oppose having him lead the G.O.P. ticket if he is found guilty of a crime, a Times poll found.

Clearly, there are DEEP RIFTS at the New York Times. In the lead story, we’re told that the numbers reflect “the remarkable degree to which Republican voters are willing to look past Mr. Trump’s legal jeopardy […] and line up behind his potential return to power.” The story does dutifully note that Trump’s legal jeopardy includes four indictments against him, with 91 felony counts, although it doesn’t mention the civil lawsuit in New York that’s likely to force the liquidation of his real-estate company, or May’s jury verdict finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against E. Jean Carroll. (Not that Trump voters are swayed by either, probably — they aren’t mentioned in the poll.)

The second story acknowledges that Trump remains wildly popular with his vile base, most of whom think he’s persecuted, but that a

not-insignificant minority of those who would otherwise want him at the top of the Republican ticket in November could change their mind if he were found guilty in any of the four criminal cases he is facing, even if he has won the primary contest.

Another 20 percent of those who identified themselves as Trump supporters went so far as to say that he should go to prison if he is convicted in the federal case in Washington in which he stands accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. And 23 percent of his supporters said they believe that he has committed “serious federal crimes,” up from 11 percent in July.

The sidebar story also notes that November’s shit-your-pants poll of voters in swing states found that about six percent of Trump supporters in those states said they would switch to Biden if Trump were convicted, so maybe the continuing news of Trump’s legal fuckery is starting to take a toll.

In any case, we looked for a story in the Times calling attention to the poll’s finding that Biden is two points ahead of Trump among likely voters, but for that you’d have to go to other sources that are friendlier to Biden, like … The Hill? And the New York Goddamned Post?

The Times finally mentions the top-line results, 20 paragraphs in, suggesting that Biden is in terrible shape despite that narrow lead among likely voters:

the array of charges against Mr. Trump so far do not appear to be helping Mr. Biden politically.

Mr. Trump leads Mr. Biden 46 percent to 44 percent among registered voters. Among those deemed likeliest to vote, however, Mr. Biden actually edges Mr. Trump, 47 percent to 45 percent. In a sign of Mr. Biden’s weakness among registered voters, his level of support is actually lower than the share of voters — 47 percent — who believe that Mr. Trump should be found guilty of trying to overturn the 2020 election.

His lead over Trump reflects his weakness.

Freakin’ liberal media, I tells ya.

---

No, Seriously, That New York Times Poll Is Good News For Joe Biden

The E. Jean Carroll Verdict Isn't Enough. But It's A Lot.

---

[NYT/Sienna poll / NYT ‘Legal Jeopardy Hasn’t Hurt’/ NYT ‘Nearly a Quarter Say He Shouldn’t Be Nominated’ / The Hill / NYP]

Yr Wonkette is funded entirely by reader donations. If you can, please subscribe and help us reach our goal of 5,000 paid subscribers by the end of the year! Or if a one-time donation — say, for the amount you’ll save dropping your New York Times subscription — works better, you can click this here button.

If you were shopping at Amazon anyway — for a copy of Headline Selection For Dummies or for something soft and pliant to pound in frustration — this portal gives Yr Wonkette a small commission.