Less Than Half of all Americans Want Trump Ousted Post-Impeachment: Reuters/Ipsos Poll

• 12.20.2019, 16:07
•  America,  World

Reuters

Less than half of all Americans say President Donald Trump should be removed from office following his impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Thursday, presenting a challenge for Democrats who will seek his ouster in a U.S. Senate trial, Reuters reports.

The national online survey tmsnrt.rs/2EEmWPW, conducted in the hours after the House voted along party lines on Wednesday to charge Trump with abusing his office and obstructing Congress, found that the rare and highly contentious act by lawmakers has done little to change minds in a divided country.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, had been initially hesitant to bring impeachment charges against Trump because she was concerned there would not be enough public support.

Her party then sought to build that support through public hearings on the allegations that Trump withheld military aid for Ukraine and pressured its president to investigate a political rival, Joe Biden, before Wednesday’s historic impeachment vote.

When asked about the specific impeachment charges, 53% agreed that Trump abused his office and 51% agreed that he obstructed Congress.

Some 42% of respondents - most of them Democrats - said Congress should carry out its ultimate sanction and remove the president from office, as the Senate has the power to do.

Another 17% said Trump should be formally reprimanded with a congressional censure, 29% said they want the impeachment charges dismissed, and the rest said they did not have an opinion.

Trump, the third president in U.S. history to be impeached, now faces an impeachment trial early next year in the Senate. The Republicans who control the chamber have largely supported Trump throughout the House proceedings. The leader of the upper chamber, Senator Mitch McConnell, has said there is no chance of the president being convicted.