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A slim majority of Americans say they support the Senate conviction of former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial, which begins Tuesday.
Fifty-two percent of those polled in a new Gallup poll want Trump convicted, and 45% said senators should acquit the former president. There was a similar response in an ABC News / IPSOS survey released on Sunday, with 56% supporting the conviction and 43% supporting the acquittal.
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These figures correspond to those of two national polls released last week. Half of all Americans wanted Trump convicted and 45% called for an acquittal in a University of Quinnipiac poll, and a Marist national poll showed 50% supported the conviction and 41% called on lawmakers to acquit Trump.
Last month, the House of Representatives impeached the then president for inciting the Jan.6 insurgency on Capitol Hill by right-wing extremists and other Trump supporters. Five people, including a Capitol Hill police officer, were killed in the building’s storming, which came as Congress certified President Biden’s Electoral College victory over Trump. The impeachment was supported by the 222 House Democrats as well as 10 Republicans, with 197 GOP representatives voting against the impeachment.
FILE – On January 6, 2021, photographic rioters loyal to President Donald Trump attempt to cross a police barrier on Capitol Hill in Washington. The arguments begin Tuesday, February 9 in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial over allegations he incited the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 (AP Photo / John Minchillo, File)
Tuesday’s trial begins with four hours of debate among all 100 senators over whether it is constitutional to impeach a former president. In a recent Senate vote, 45 of 50 Republicans in the chamber voted against holding the trial, saying it was unconstitutional. Only five Senate Republicans joined the 50 Democrats in rejecting the idea that a former president could not be tried on indictment. It was a major indicator that a conviction of Trump in the Senate trial – which requires 67 votes – would likely be well insufficient.
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Trump’s second impeachment trial – a first in American history – comes a year after his first trial.
“The public is slightly more supportive of Trump’s conviction now than they were in January 2020 just before his first Senate trial, after he was indicted for refusing foreign aid approved by the Congress to Ukraine in order to gain political favor and for obstructing Congress in its investigation of the matter, ”Gallup points out in its poll.“ At that time, 46% said they were in favor of conviction and 51% no. “
The then president was acquitted in the first trial.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. On Wednesday, January 20, 2021 (AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta)
The 56-43% support for the acquittal conviction in the new ABC News / IPSOS poll is also a shift from 47% support for the conviction to 49% support for the acquittal in an ABC News / Washington survey Post conducted just before the 2020 trial.
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All the latest inquiries point to a large partisan divide during the trial.
Eighty-nine percent of Democrats polled as part of the Gallup poll support the conviction, with 88% of Republicans supporting the acquittal. Independent by a conviction of 54% to 43% margin. It’s a similar story in the ABC News / IPSOS survey, with 92% of Democrats but only 15% of Republicans supporting the condemnation. Independent by a range of 54% to 45% of conviction for acquittal.
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The Gallup poll was conducted from January 21 to February. 2, with the ABC News / IPSOS survey conducted from February 5 to 6.
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