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Following the House of Representatives’ vote to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, a new poll from Politico and Morning Consult shows a majority of respondents supporting the articles of impeachment, Trump’s impeachment and his removal from office.
Democrats accuse Trump of abusing his power by pressuring the government of Ukraine to open politically motivated investigations by withholding nearly $400 million of military aid and an Oval Office meeting. The second charge, obstruction of Congress, stems from Trump’s stonewalling of House Democrats’ investigation.
In the first poll to be conducted following the House’s passage of impeachment articles, 52% of respondents said they supported the Houses’ articles of impeachment, with 43% opposing. Similarly, 52% of respondents said they support Trump’s impeachment and removal from office, while 42% disapproved.
A USA TODAY/Suffolk poll conducted before the impeachment votes found Americans opposing Trump’s impeachment and removal by a slim margin: 51% of voters opposed a vote to convict in the Senate, and 45% approved.
Support for the articles breaks mostly along party lines, much like the near Democrat-Republican split that occurred when the House voted to pass the articles on Wednesday. Almost all Democrats voted for both articles, with all Republicans voting against them. Only one member, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, voted “present” on the articles, which is equivalent to abstaining.
In the Politico/Morning Consult poll, 85% of Democrats approved of the House’s passage of articles, whereas only 16% of Republicans approved. The articles now move to the Senate, which will hold a trial in early 2020 to determine whether Trump should be removed from office.
Removal from office requires a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate, a higher bar than the majority need in the House to impeach him.
A majority of the poll’s respondents believed the Senate should call more witnesses during the trial given the failure of some witnesses to testify during the impeachment inquiry.
