Poll: Republican support for convicting Trump in Senate growing

Authored by politico.com and submitted by Srosenbz
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The House impeached Trump last week, charging him with "incitement of insurrection” after he gave a speech to supporters on Jan. 6 in front of the White House before they stormed the U.S. Capitol. He told them to “be strong."

Trump has defended his speech as “totally appropriate.” Just 27 percent of respondents in the poll said Trump acted “appropriately” and that the Senate should not remove him from office.

The poll released Tuesday had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points and surveyed 1,993 registered voters.

Among respondents overall, about 55 percent said they either “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of the Senate convicting Trump. About 37 percent of respondents said they “strongly” or “somewhat” disapprove of a potential conviction and removal from office, with about 7 percent saying they didn’t know or had no opinion.

Overall support for a conviction has ticked up since Trump was impeached last week. The Jan. 8-11 poll — conducted before his impeachment — found about 54 percent of respondents said they would “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of a Senate conviction if the House impeached Trump.

Trump's trial in the Senate — his second in office — won't begin until after President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Wednesday. Ten House Republicans voted to impeach Trump last week . Now, all eyes have been on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has signaled he is open to a conviction .

About 27 percent of respondents in the poll released Tuesday said they “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of McConnell’s handling of impeachment. About 52 percent said they either “strongly” or “somewhat” disapprove, with nearly a quarter saying they didn’t know or had no opinion.

Trump’s approval rating rebounded a bit from an all-time low for his presidency, when it was at 34 percent as of the poll released last week. Now, it’s up to 39 percent, according to the poll released Tuesday.

After the House impeached Trump last week, about 44 percent of respondents said they “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s handling of the proceedings.

About 30 percent of respondents said they “strongly” or “somewhat” approved of congressional Republicans’ handling of impeachment, as compared to 51 percent of respondents who said the same of Democrats in Congress.

Bsilly32 on January 19th, 2021 at 13:47 UTC »

Honestly at this point, sitting back and letting him walk would be paving the way for future presidents to conduct themselves the way Trump has and more so. There needs to be some sort of accountability.

bearblu on January 19th, 2021 at 13:41 UTC »

The Republicans, the smart crafty republicans-Mitch, may use this to get Trump out of play. Remove Trump by conviction and then make sure he is banned from holding office again.

And then blame the Democrats for it.

NightwingDragon on January 19th, 2021 at 13:12 UTC »

A conviction is not out of the realm of possibilities.

You need 17. There's 4-5 people with their eye on a 2024 run for President, who may vote for conviction in order to eliminate a serious primary threat.

There are another handful of people who are likely to vote to convict because for once they actually have something resembling a spine and common sense.

Even Mitch McConnell has hinted that he may consider a vote to convict. And if he does, some of his cronies may follow.

17 *may* not be as far off as people think. It's still a longshot, but not out of the realm of possibilities. The chances have been reduced from "You're more likely to hit Powerball" to "about the same as hitting a few extra bucks on a scratch-off ticket".

EDIT: This doesn't even take into consideration the possibility of some GOP Senators not showing up for the vote at all, giving them a way to essentially "vote" for conviction without actually voting for conviction. Every GOP Senator that decides not to show up helps bring down the number of GOP senators needed to actually vote, so the math further favors the Democrats. Again, the vote is still a long shot, but not nearly as much of a long shot as some people think.