Americans are divided by party on whether to blame Trump for the January 6 riot

The Associated Press/NORC survey found that 86 percent of Democrats think the 45th president should be charged, while only 4 percent say he shouldn't and 10 percent say they don't know enough to have an opinion.

A new poll out Thursday shows that Americans are split along party lines on whether or not former President Donald Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the Capitol riot last year.Among Republicans, on the other hand, 68 percent say Trump shouldn't be charged, 10 percent say he should, and 21 percent say they don't know enough to have an opinion. ​

Independent voters are more evenly split on the question, with 36% saying that Trump should be charged with a crime, 25% disagreeing, and 38% saying they don't know.

Overall, 48% of Americans say Trump should be charged with a crime, while 31% say he shouldn't and 20% say they don't know.

The poll was done after a House committee held five hearings this month to talk about what happened before and on Jan. 6, 2021, when a crowd of Trump supporters stopped Congress from certifying that President Biden had won the election in the Electoral College.

But the survey was done before the committee's hastily scheduled hearing on Tuesday, where Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified under oath.

One of Hutchinson's most shocking claims was that the former president grabbed the steering wheel of his SUV and yelled "I'm the f—ing president" on Jan. 6 when Secret Service agents told him he couldn't join his supporters at the Capitol.

The AP-NORC poll found that by a large margin, Democrats care more about the hearings than Republicans.

75 percent of Democrats say they have been paying attention to the hearings of the House committee, while only 42 percent of Republicans and independents say the same.

Overall, 56 percent of Americans say they have been paying attention to hearings news, while 43 percent say they haven't.

But when asked if they have watched or listened to the hearings, more than half of Americans (57%) say "no." This includes 72 percent of Republicans, 66 percent of independents, and only 41 percent of Democrats.

Most people who watch or listen to live coverage of the hearings are Democrats. In a survey, 58 percent of Democrats said they had done so, compared to 32 percent of independents and 27 percent of Republicans.

When asked how much the rioters are to blame, 61 percent say they are "very" or "very much" to blame. Next, Trump is blamed "a lot" by 49 percent of people, then Republicans in Congress (26 percent), and then Democrats in Congress (12 percent )

Only 12% of Republicans say Trump should get "a lot" of blame, while 85% of Democrats and 37% of independents say the same thing. ​

Kathlyn Keller, a retired San Francisco investment banker, agrees with those who say Trump should not be charged for what happened on January 6.

Keller, who is 83 years old, told the Associated Press that people who brought guns to the Capitol grounds, broke into the building, or did damage inside should be charged.

She told the AP that nothing should be charged against Trump.

But for Ella Metze, an 86-year-old Democrat from South Carolina, it was clear that Trump was to blame from the moment he gave a speech on the Ellipse near the White House telling his supporters to "fight like hell." ​

She told the AP, "It was meant to make them violent because he kept telling them to do it." "I saw it all happen, and all I could think was, Why doesn't someone stop this? "Why doesn't he quit?"

Between June 23 and 27, 1,053 Americans were asked to take part in the poll.

Plus or minus 4 percentage points can be added or subtracted from it.

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