Early exit polls: Most North Carolina and Virginia GOP primary voters would consider Trump fit for presidency if convicted

CNN —

More than 6 in 10 of North Carolina primary voters say that they’d consider former President Donald Trump fit for the presidency if he’s convicted of a crime, according to the initial results of CNN’s exit poll of Republican primary voters in the state, with slightly over half of GOP primary voters in Virginia saying the same.

Roughly 4 in 10 primary voters in North Carolina describe themselves as part of the MAGA, or “Make America Great Again,” movement, compared to about one-third in Virginia. That’s below the 46% in Iowa’s caucuses who identified with the MAGA slogan. In South Carolina, about 41% of GOP primary voters described themselves as identifying with MAGA, with about one-third of New Hampshire GOP primary voters saying the same.

Roughly 6 in 10 North Carolina GOP primary voters baselessly deny that President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win was legitimate, as do close to half of Virginia voters. Across all of the states of the GOP primary this year where entrance and exit polls have been conducted – including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina – none has seen a majority of the GOP electorate willing to acknowledge the results of the 2020 election.

Exit polls are a valuable tool to help understand primary voters’ demographic profile and political views. Like all surveys, however, exit polls are estimates, not precise measurements of the electorate. That’s particularly true for the preliminary set of exit poll numbers, which haven’t yet been weighted to match the final results of the primaries. But the results provide a glimpse of the type of voters turning out to participate.

About three-quarters of North Carolina GOP primary voters and roughly 6 in 10 Virginia GOP primary voters say they’d be