Americans split on impeaching, removing Trump from office: poll

Americans remain sharply split over the question of whether President Trump should be impeached and removed from the White House, with about half supporting the step and another half opposing it, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll released Friday. 

The survey, which was released on Friday, found that 49 percent of respondents endorse impeaching Trump and removing him from office, while 47 percent say the president should not be impeached. Four percent of respondents said they had no opinion on the matter.

{mosads}The figures are similar to a Post-Schar School poll from early October, which found that 49 percent of respondents backed impeaching and removing Trump. However, at that time, only 38 percent of respondents said that they were against beginning impeachment proceedings.

The survey released Friday showed respondents split heavily along partisan lines. Eighty-two percent of respondents identifying as Democrats said they support removing Trump from office, while just 13 percent oppose the move. Among Republicans, 82 percent said they disapprove of impeaching and removing Trump while 18 percent said they would support the president’s removal. 

Among independents, 47 percent said Trump should be impeached and removed from office, while 49 percent said he should not. 

The findings come as the House moves forward with an impeachment inquiry focusing on revelations that the president sought to pressure a foreign nation to investigate 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden over unfounded allegations of corruption. 

On Wednesday, the House passed a resolution establishing rules for open hearings and the questioning of witnesses by House committee members and staff. The vote marked the first time members of the lower chamber voted on matters pertaining to the Trump impeachment inquiry. 

Regardless of their views on impeachment, 55 percent of those surveyed said that Trump did something wrong in his dealings with Ukraine. Just 35 percent say that Trump did not commit any wrongdoing. The Post noted that about 1 in 10 respondents believe that Trump did something wrong, but are against impeachment. 

Meanwhile, just 38 percent of Americans say they approve how Trump has handled his job as president, a figure that matches the president’s job approval from a survey conducted in September. 

The Post-ABC News poll was conducted between Oct. 27-Oct. 30 among a national population of 1,003 adults. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.