Americans say by wide margins that the court-ordered silence orders against Donald Trump violate the former president’s right to free speech, according to a DailyMail.com/TIPP poll.
More than 56 percent of voters say orders banning Trump from commenting on the cases against him undermine his First Amendment guarantees, our survey shows.
Another 32 percent said the orders did not infringe on their rights, while 12 percent said they were not sure.
Our exclusive poll of more than a thousand American adults comes as Trump, his lawyers and voters grapple with the fallout from shortening a prominent politician’s speech.
Voters by wide margins say the court’s silence orders unfairly muzzle Trump
Even Democrats believe the former president should be allowed to express his opinion
Gag orders are not unheard of in high-profile cases, but courts have never before had to grapple with whether they can curb the speech of a leading presidential candidate.
Trump’s supporters have posted angrily online against the orders.
Elise Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman from New York, called a gag order “unconstitutional and illegal.”
Trump was effectively prevented from exposing problems in a civil case against him, Stefanik said.
Right-wing commentator Libby Emmons said the order “only goes one way: to silence Trump.”
Trump has been hit with a silence order in two of the cases against him.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed a silence order on Oct. 16, restricting the Republican’s speech about those involved in the case accusing him of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss.
The order prohibited Trump from targeting Jack Smith, the special counsel who prosecuted his case, or witnesses who might be called to testify about his efforts to repair his election defeat.
A federal appeals court temporarily lifted that order Friday and set arguments for Nov. 20 before a panel of three judges — all appointed by Democratic presidents.
Trump testified this week in the civil fraud trial against him, where he was fined twice for violating a gag order
Trump’s lawyers say they will seek relief from the U.S. Supreme Court if the appeals court denies his request.
The order violates Trump’s First Amendment rights and those of “more than 100 million Americans who listen to him,” they said.
The defense has said prosecutors have presented no evidence that potential witnesses or anyone else felt intimidated by the former president’s social media posts.
Arthur Engoron gave Trump a separate silence order during the civil fraud trial in New York over the inflated real estate values by his family business.
Engoron twice fined Trump for violating the order, which bars him from criticizing the judge’s clerk.
On November 3, he extended the order to Trump’s lawyers.
A gag order barred Trump from targeting Jack Smith, the special prosecutor who prosecuted his case
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed a gag order on Trump on October 16
Our DailyMail.com/TIPP poll shows that while voters are divided on the orders, most are siding with Trump.
Our respondents, mainly men and people living in the South and Northeast, called it a violation of his right to freedom of expression.
Seven in 10 Republicans said the gag order went too far, as did a sizable 57 percent of Democratic voters.
Our investigation was conducted from November 1 to 3, before Judge Chutkan’s order was temporarily lifted.
It’s the latest polling boost the Trump campaign has enjoyed this week.
Polls from The New York Times and Siena College showed President Joe Biden, a Democrat, trailing Trump in five of the six key swing states a year before the 2024 election.
The results show Biden losing to Trump, his most likely rival, by margins of four to 10 percentage points among registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
But Trump’s legal troubles persist. He faces four criminal charges and has made disparaging comments about the prosecutors in each of those cases, as well as the New York State attorney general who filed civil fraud charges against him.
Trump has denied guilt on charges that he planned to unlawfully interfere with the vote counting and block congressional certification of his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.