Impeachment Poll

Not surprisingly, we remain as polarized as ever.

NBC has a new poll on impeachment and removal. It shows that public opinion has not changed and that we remain polarized as a country, NBC/WSJ poll: Country remains divided over Trump’s impeachment trial.

The key numbers:

In the poll, 46 percent of registered voters say Trump should be removed from office as a result of the impeachment trial, versus 49 percent who say he should remain — essentially unchanged from the 48 percent-to-48 percent split in December’s NBC/WSJ poll.

Democratic voters overwhelmingly support Trump’s removal from office (84 percent), while Republicans overwhelmingly oppose it (91 percent). Independents are divided, with 45 percent backing removal and 50 percent opposing it.

Such numbers underscore why removal was never going to happen.

And, the following basically reflect presidential approval numbers:

Still, a majority of voters — 52 percent — say they believe Trump abused the power of his office by asking a foreign government to investigate a political opponent to influence the upcoming election, compared with 41 percent who disagree.

And another majority of voters — 53 percent — believe the president obstructed Congress by not cooperating with the impeachment investigation and by directing government employees not to comply with subpoenas.

Just 37 percent say he did not obstruct Congress.

Fundamentally, if we had a rational process for electing the president, the clear likelihood is that Trump would lose reelection.

However, the Electoral College means that the drama rocks on.

FILED UNDER: Public Opinion Polls, US Politics, , , , ,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. Jax says:

    I see Joni Ernst is saying they will immediately work to impeach Joe Biden for his work in Ukraine if he wins.

    I mean, I’m not surprised, from the same party that said they were going to immediately impeach Clinton if she won, but….it still gives me a headache.

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  2. DeD says:

    @Jax:

    Well, that would work if Reps held the House majority. Ernst putting the cart before the horse.

    5
  3. gVOR08 says:

    Agree or not, Nixon was impeached because it wasn’t possible to ignore what WAPO and others had reported. Then wanting a tit-for-tat, GOPs investigated Clinton’s entire life and after years of effort finally found something. Something personal, unrelated to his official duties, but just enough. Then, while many low level Ds did want Trumpsky impeached from before day 1, nothing was done about it until the Ukraine whistle blower laid something in front of them they couldn’t ignore.

    Depend on it, if Rs take the House in 2020 they’ll start investigating before inauguration day. Same if they take the House in the 2022 mid-terms. They won’t need more than the most frivolous RT invented allegation to launch fishing expeditions in all directions. Next D prez with a GOP House is going to have to try to be as squeaky clean as Obama, and it won’t be enough. And the first hint of executive privilege will call down a GOP scheisse sturm.

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  4. An Interested Party says:

    I see Joni Ernst is saying they will immediately work to impeach Joe Biden for his work in Ukraine if he wins.

    There’s no guarantee she’ll be serving in Congress next year…perhaps she’ll continue with her inane comments as a Fox “News” contributor…

    5
  5. Mister Bluster says:

    @gVOR08:..Nixon was impeached

    No. Nixon resigned before articles of impeachment were voted on.

    2
  6. Kurtz says:

    @gVOR08:

    Obstructing, investigating, drawing, and supressing are all they have. And the electoral college. That too.

  7. CSK says:

    On Twitter, Trump congratulated “the great state of Kansas” on winning the Superbowl. He deleted the Tweet, but one zillion screenshots are 4ever.

  8. Gustopher says:

    Meanwhile, a Montana State Rep believes the constitution says you can shoot Socialists…

    WaPo link

    Now, I understand that State Reps are often crazy ass mofos, but I would estimate that 5% of the population is that crazy. And they have guns. And any Democrat is going to be painted as a socialist. The next Democratic President May have a lot more to worry about than impeachment from a petulant Joni Ernst.

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  9. Jc says:

    Nowadays it does not matter if you have 100 eyewitness. Unless there is video/photographic evidence, then nobody cares. We have become the trust nothing generation, over question everything and afraid to believe the truth, or only believe the excuse that gives us the easy way out from the truth. It will just get worse.

  10. DrDaveT says:

    @Jc:

    Unless there is video/photographic evidence, then nobody cares.

    Ironically, just as we are finally coming to understand just how unreliable eyewitness testimony is, the existence of ever-better Deep Fakes may force us right back into a preference for eyeballs over cameras… Or at least of wet film over digital.

  11. Just Another Ex-Republican says:

    @gVOR08: Don’t worry, while I fully expect the same thing you do, it won’t matter. President Biden won’t have to cooperate with the investigations, and every Dem in the world is going to shrug and point out that Republicans decided complete obstruction from the executive branch was no big deal. They’ll impeach and rage, and have no more luck getting 67 votes than the D’s did this time around.

    And America will fracture a little bit more. I’m glad I don’t have children, and hope I’m dead before this country completes its long fall. You all know what they say about the bigger they are…