Public Hearings Backfire as Poll Shows Impeachment Support Dwindling, Trump Support Rising
The more Americans know about House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, the less they like the idea of impeaching him, according to a pair of new polls.
A new Emerson poll found that support for impeachment has fallen since public hearings on the matter began.
In October, the poll found that 48 percent of those surveyed supported impeaching Trump and 44 percent opposed it.
But those numbers have seen a 180-degree flip in recent days, following a number of witnesses’ public testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.
The most recent survey revealed that 45 percent of those polled oppose impeachment, while only 43 percent support it.
The biggest change came from independent voters, according to the poll.
In October, 48 percent of independents thought impeachment was a good idea while 39 percent opposed it.
Now, 49 percent of independents oppose impeaching Trump, and 34 percent support it.
A Morning Consult/Politico poll that came out this week also showed independents are losing their taste for impeachment.
Forty-seven percent of independents surveyed said they oppose the inquiry while 40 percent support it. The poll showed a shift of 10 percentage points from the previous week.
“Voter opposition to the impeachment inquiry is at its highest point since Morning Consult and Politico began tracking the issue,” Tyler Sinclair, Morning Consult’s vice president, told Politico.
“A key driver for this shift appears to be independents. Today, 47 percent of independents oppose the impeachment inquiry, compared to 37 percent who said the same one week ago.”
The Emerson poll noted that America is paying attention to the hearings, reporting that 69 percent of voters polled are following them, with 26 percent getting their information from Fox News, the largest single source of news about the hearings.
The Emerson poll also revealed that since the public impeachment hearings have begun, Trump’s approval rating has risen to 48 percent, with 47 percent disapproval. In October, Trump had an approval rate of 43 percent.
Among top 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, only Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont would defeat Trump in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, the poll found. The poll showed Sanders would win, 50 percent to 49 percent.
But the survey revealed Trump would defeat former Vice President Joe Biden, 51 percent to 49 percent, as well as South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 52 percent to 48 percent.
The poll said Trump would tie Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, with each getting 50 percent support.
Sanders tied Biden at the top of the Democratic field, according to the poll. Each candidate had 27 percent support.
Warren was third at 20 percent, with Buttigieg fourth at 7 percent.
No other candidate polled at higher than 5 percent support.
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