Americans roughly divided on whether voters should decide Trump’s fate rather than the Senate
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Version 0 of 1. Nearly 6 in 10 Americans think President Trump has committed an impeachable offense, but the public is more evenly split on whether voters should decide his fate in this year’s elections rather than have the Senate remove him from office, according to a new poll. The 538-Ipsos poll also finds that congressional Democrats, Republicans and Trump alike get low marks from the public for how they are handling the impeachment process. After last month’s House vote to impeach Trump, largely along party lines, the parties are at an impasse regarding the timing and scope of a Senate trial. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has declined to transmit articles of impeachment — for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — as Democrats seek guarantees that they will be able to subpoena documents and call several witnesses regarding Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine. The poll finds that 57 percent of Americans think Trump has committed an impeachable offense, while 40 percent think he has not. Of those who think he has, 50 percent are “absolutely certain,” while another 31 percent are “pretty certain.” Meanwhile, 51 percent say voters should ultimately determine Trump’s fate, while 47 percent say he should be removed from office by the Senate. Separately, a Washington Post average of 16 national polls in December found 47 percent supported impeaching and removing Trump, while 48 percent were opposed. The 538-Ipsos poll found that fewer than half of Americans — 45 percent — think House Democrats should continue to delay the start of a Senate trial until concerns about its fairness are resolved. Fifty two percent say the trial should not wait. Neither party is winning high marks from the public for its handling of the proceedings. Thirty-five percent of Americans approve of how congressional Democrats are handling the process, while 45 percent disapprove. A still-smaller 28 percent of Americans approve of how congressional Republicans are handling the process, while 51 percent disapprove. Meanwhile, 27 percent of Americans approve of how Trump is handling the process, while 55 percent disapprove. At the heart of the Democrats’ case is the allegation that Trump tried to leverage a White House meeting and military aid, sought by Ukraine to combat Russian military aggression, to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as a probe of an unfounded theory that Kyiv conspired with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Majorities of Americans say they believe elements of the Democratic case based on what they know, according to the poll. Eighty percent say they believe that Trump asked Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. Sixty percent believe Trump withheld military aid with the aim of prompting an investigation into the Bidens. And 61 percent believe Trump and his administration attempted to cover up information about his actions toward Ukraine. Majorities of Americans say those actions would be inappropriate if they in fact happened. The poll also includes an ominous finding for Joe Biden, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian energy company while his father was vice president and oversaw U.S. policy toward Ukraine. The poll finds that Americans are evenly divided — 48 percent to 48 percent — on whether Joe Biden behaved ethically toward Ukraine while vice president. When asked about an upcoming Senate trial, most Americans — 57 percent — say it would be better to allow new witnesses, as Democrats have suggested. Meanwhile, 86 percent say senators should attempt to be “impartial jurors” and examine the evidence. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has come under fire from Democrats for saying he does not consider himself an impartial juror and that he is working with Trump’s legal team ahead of a trial. The poll of 1,551 adults was conducted online Dec. 26 to 30 among a sample drawn through Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel, an ongoing survey panel recruited through random sampling of U.S. households. Overall results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. |