47% of Americans feel Donald Trump should be impeached and that number is rising, say polls
American politics has found itself deeply polarized over the call for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, and a couple of polls have revealed that even Trump's loyalists are finding it increasingly difficult to defend the president. A formal impeachment inquiry into the president was announced on September 24 by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after a whistle-blower complaint accused him of trying to put pressure on the president of Ukraine to derail Joe Biden's presidential run.
The polls that were conducted to gauge the mood on the ground have suggested that as the controversy snowballs, more and more Americans feel that the president should be impeached.
Reuters-Ipsos poll: 45% feel Trump should be impeached; 41% felt no
According to a poll by Reuters-Ipsos the result of which was released on Monday, September 30, the number of Americans who think Trump should be impeached rose by eight percentage points over the past one week as the controversy over his alleged ill-intentioned telephonic conversation with President Volodymyr Zelensky to defeat a domestic political rival gained traction. The poll, which was conducted between September 26 and 30, said 45 per cent of adults opined that Trump ‘should be impeached’ and it went up from 37 per cent shown in a similar poll the week before. The percentage of people who felt Trump ‘should not be impeached’ was at close 41 per cent while 15 per cent couldn’t make up their minds.
66% feel elected officials who worked with foreign govt for political goal should be removed
According to the poll, 66 per cent of American adults said any elected official ‘should be removed’ from office if they worked with a foreign government to get rid of a political opponent. While breaking it down, it was found 88 per cent Democrats, 46 per cent Republicans and about two-thirds of independents conformed to this viewpoint.
When only the Democrats were taken into consideration, 74 per cent said Trump should be impeached with the number up by eight percentage points over the past week. The disappointing part for Trump supporters is that more Republicans vouched for his impeachment in the latest poll -- 13 per cent, up from 10 per cent. Eighty-one percent Republicans were opposed to it. The figure among the Independents remained the same at 37 per cent.
The Reuters-Ipsos poll, which covered over 2,200 adults, also found that 34 per cent had heard ‘a great deal’ about the Ukraine scandal this week which is almost double the number of people who were following the case closely last week. Thirty per cent of the respondents said they have heard ‘some’ details about the issue.
When asked about their opinions over the Trump-Biden news, 43 per cent believed Trump was trying to smear Biden ahead of next year’s election, four percentage points more than last week.
The Reuters-Ipsos poll was conducted online in English throughout the US and its respondents included 944 Democrats and 855 Republicans.
CNN-SSRS poll: 47% support Trump's impeachment; 45% say no
Another poll, a CNN one conducted by market research firm SSRS, also found a rise in the number of people who want Trump impeached and removed from office. Its latest findings said 47 per cent support the president’s impeachment and removal, six percentage points more than a poll in May. Interestingly, the current figure is same as that in September 2018 when 47 per cent sought Trump’s impeachment as well.
The percentage of respondents who say no to the idea of impeaching Trump is at 45 per cent but it has gone down from 54 per cent recorded in May.
According to the poll, the change has come mainly among Republicans and independents. About three-quarters of Democrats favor impeaching Trump and removing him from office, which was roughly the same in May. However, the percentage surged by 11 points among independents to 46 per cent and eight points among Republicans to 14 per cent.
Young Americans want Trump impeached
A shift has been seen among younger Americans as well. As much as 60 per cent of those aged below 35 favor the impeachment of Trump and his removal from the office, up by 17 points from May. Among older Americans it has gone up by two points since May (40 per cent to 42 per cent).
The CNN-SSRS poll was conducted through telephones -- both landline and cellular -- and it covered over 1,000 adults across the country between September 24 and 29.