Only 29% of Americans think Trump is prepared to accept election result if he loses, poll says

Donald Trump waves at a La Crosse, Wisconsin campaign event on Thursday. Two-thirds of Americans say Trump is not prepared to accept the results of the 2024 election, a new poll reveals (Getty Images)
Donald Trump waves at a La Crosse, Wisconsin campaign event on Thursday. Two-thirds of Americans say Trump is not prepared to accept the results of the 2024 election, a new poll reveals (Getty Images)

Two-thirds of Americans believe Donald Trump is not prepared to accept the outcome of the presidential election, a new poll reveals.

Just 29 percent of Americans said the former president is ready to accept the election results, while 68 percent said Kamala Harris is prepared, an ABC News/Ipsos poll published Friday reveals. Meanwhile, 81 percent of Americans said they are personally prepared to accept whatever the outcome might be.

Over half of the poll participants were also very or somewhat confident that votes will be counted accurately, ABC News reports. However, there was variation between parties. Fifty-one percent of Republicans said they aren’t confident the election will be called accurately, while 90 percent of Democrats said they have confidence in the count.

These responses come years after Trump and his allies falsely claimed he won the presidential election and was cheated out of the White House due to voter fraud in 2020. This is untrue and there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud influencing the election.

Donald Trump at a La Crosse, Wisconsin campaign event on Thursday. Two-thirds of Americans say Trump is not prepared to accept the results of the 2024 election, a new poll reveals (AFP via Getty Images)
Donald Trump at a La Crosse, Wisconsin campaign event on Thursday. Two-thirds of Americans say Trump is not prepared to accept the results of the 2024 election, a new poll reveals (AFP via Getty Images)

After Trump repeatedly made this claim, thousands of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, to interrupt lawmakers from confirming President Joe Biden’s legitimate win.

Since Trump left office, four secretaries of state said they’ve received death threats for carrying out their duties. Meanwhile, one in six election workers reported being threatened because of their jobs, according to a 2022 survey from the Brennan Center for Justice.

The former president is facing election interference charges in Fulton County, Georgia, alongside his former attorney Rudy Giuliani and several others.

Trump was also indicted again in Washington, DC, this week for his attempts to overturn the election. The new indictment comes after the Supreme Court ruled this summer that the former president has some “immunity” from prosecution.

Prosecutors now appear to be downplaying any connection between Trump’s “official” duties and his actions surrounding the election results, The Independent previously reported.

“The Defendant had no official responsibilities related to the certification proceeding, but he did have a personal interest as a candidate in being named the winner of the election,” the new indictment reads.

Meanwhile, national polls show Harris pulling ahead of Trump. The vice president has a 3.4-point lead over the former president, according to the latest average of national polls.

Harris has also surged ahead of Trump following last week’s Democratic National Convention, according to a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll released August 29.

Harris is leading Trump 48 percent to 43 percent, which is an eight-point turnaround from June when the former president was ahead of Biden by four points.

The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.