Most Americans believe Trump isn’t being treated the same as other criminal defendants

The first criminal trial of a former US president is underway — and most Americans believe thatDonald Trump is not being treated equally to other criminal defendants.

A poll conducted last week shows the country is decisively split over whether Mr Trump is being treated more leniently or more harshly.

Some 34 per cent say they believe the former president is being treated “more leniently” than other criminal defendants in the historic trial, according to the CNN poll on Thursday. The same percentage believe that he is being treated “more harshly”.

Only 13 per cent believe he is being treated “about the same” as other defendants.

Mr Trump is on trial in Manhattan over 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, in exchange for her silence over an alleged affair with Mr Trump.

She claims the affair took place in 2006, one year after Mr Trump married Melania Trump. The former president has pleaded not guilty and has denied that the affair ever occurred.

The new CNN poll underscores just how divided the country is politically as yet another contentious presidential election inches closer.

The survey also underscores political divisions over Mr Trump himself, who has been posting relentlessly on his social media platform, Truth Social, about his unfair treatment in the criminal case. He has branded the Manhattan prosecutors’ case a“witch hunt” and claims it is politically motivated. When he walked into the courtroom on thefirst day of the trial, he told reporters that the case was “an assault on America.”

However, poll respondents seemed to agree that Mr Trump has so far acted inappropriately at the trial.

Some 42 per cent of respondents said