Public Polling on Impeachment and Ukraine
Americans support removing Trump from office, and agree with the charges Trump is facing at trial.
- 51% of Americans say the Senate trial should remove Trump from office.
- A majority of Americans agree with the charges Trump is facing at trial:
- 58% say Trump abused the power of the presidency to obtain an improper personal political benefit, and 57% say it is true that he obstructed the House of Representatives in its impeachment inquiry.
- Increasing numbers of Americans say Trump has done something wrong in his interactions with Ukraine, a total of 74%, up seven points since October.
- In that three month period, the percentage of Republicans who say the president did nothing wrong decreased by 10 percentage points.
An overwhelming majority of Americans support a fair trial with witnesses.
- 72% of the public — including 69% of Republicans — believes the trial should allow witnesses with firsthand knowledge of the charges to testify.
- 70% of the public said senators should “act as impartial jurors” during the trial.
A majority of voters believe abuse of power and asking a foreign leader for help in defeating an opponent are good enough reasons to impeach the president.
- Nearly three quarters of voters (74%) believe that Trump should be removed from office if he abused the powers of the presidency.
- A majority (56%) of voters think Trump’s goal in his handling of matters with Ukraine has been to help his own re-election, regardless of the impact on U.S. interests.
- 70% of voters think it is unacceptable for a president to ask a foreign country’s leader to help investigate a potential political opponent.
- 58% of voters believe that attempting to cover up information about the administration’s actions with Ukraine is an impeachable offense.
- Asked more specifically, 55% support impeachment if Trump suspended aid to incentivize Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, including 32% of Republicans.
- Generally, 54% of voters think Trump abuses the power of his office, including 53% of Independents.
Sources
- Pew, 1/6/20-1/19/20
- CNN, 1/16/20-1/19/20
- AP/NORC, 1/16/20-1/21/20
- Reuters/Ipsos, 1/17-1/22
- Vox/Ipsos, 11/5/19 – 11/6/19
- CBS News-YouGov, 9/26/19-9/27/19
- PBS/NPR, 11/11/19 – 11/15/19
- 538/Ipsos 11/13/19 – 11/18/19
- YouGov, 9/24/19
- Quinnipiac, 9/27/19-9/29/19