Dear Reader,

There is a new myth in circulation about Donald Trump. Apparently, people who weren’t going to support him before he was convicted in the Manhattan District Attorney’s so-called hush money prosecution last week are going to do so now. You’ve undoubtedly seen this idea in circulation on social media. The storyline, so it goes, is that some people who had turned against Trump are so outraged by the political prosecution, that they’ve decided to support him after all.

Some people think it’s true. To me, it sounds like another fake story based on alternative facts that Team Trump wants to peddle to American voters.

First off, polls say it’s not the case. The most recent polls since Trump’s conviction suggest a majority of Americans agree with the verdict. The results of a CBS News/YouGov poll showed 57% of adults said the jury’s verdict was correct. A Morning Consult poll found that 54% of registered voters said they approved of the verdict, while 50% of adults in an ABC News/Ipsos survey said the verdict was correct. Given the close split in the country towards this election all along, that’s not exactly a massive wave of outraged pro-felon voters surging for Trump. In fact, the first Morning Consult Poll out after Trump's conviction showed that 49% of Independents thought Trump should drop out of the race.