65 Percent Say Hearings Won’t Change Their Opinion On Donald Trump’s Impeachment, Poll Finds
The majority of Americans surveyed said that almost nothing could change their opinion on the impeachment of President Donald Trump amid the current House impeachment inquiry that last week entered its first public hearings, according to a recent poll conducted by NPR, PBS News Hour, and Marist.
On the flip side, about 30 percent of those who were surveyed said something could change their mind regarding whether the president should be impeached, according to the poll.
The poll found that about half of Americans support the current impeachment inquiry. Additionally, about half of respondents said they support his impeachment and removal from office. As NPR noted, those numbers remain relatively constant since the poll had last been conducted the month prior.
The poll was conducted between November 11 and 15, as NPR noted, which is before, during, and after public testimony by the first three witnesses involved in the House impeachment inquiry, launched in September. The House had previously held closed-door hearings in the first phase of the inquiry, though began the public hearings last week.
As NPR reported, Democrats had held off on launching an impeachment inquiry over fears of creating further divisions among the public and creating significant backlash, though that hasn’t been the case so far since it was announced, following a whistleblower who revealed the president had asked a foreign leader to investigate claims into his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Eighty-six percent of Democrats now say they are more likely to support the president’s impeachment following recent testimony than they were prior. Republicans, on the other hand, are 83 percent less likely to support impeachment following recent testimony and evidence, per the poll.
Whether for or against, it seems like many Americans are interested in the proceedings, with about 70 percent of respondents in the poll saying they were closely following the inquiry. Fifty-three percent of those who said they were closely following the inquiry said they favored the president’s impeachment. Out of all parties, Democrats seem most interested in the Democrat-led effort, with 78 percent claiming to be paying close attention to the inquiry. Sixty-eight percent of Republicans and 66 percent of Independents said they were closely following along.
While the poll found a nearly even split — 45 to 44 percent — of Americans who actually thought the president should be removed from office due to his conduct, 70 percent of those surveyed in the poll said that it is not appropriate for a president to ask the leader of a foreign nation to investigate a political opponent. That number includes some 53 percent of Republicans who said doing so is inappropriate.
More than half of Americans — 59 percent — said they believed the identity of the whistleblower should remain anonymous even as the president and other Republicans repeatedly call for their identity to be revealed.
