Americans' support for impeaching Trump rises - Reuters/Ipsos poll

[webfact]

Americans' support for impeaching Trump rises - Reuters/Ipsos poll

By Chris Kahn

 

U.S. President Donald Trump responds to questions from reporters in front of a portrait of President Theodore Roosevelt after an event centered on a proposal to end surprise medical billing in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The number of Americans who said President Donald Trump should be impeached rose 5 percentage points to 45 percent since mid-April, while more than half said multiple congressional probes of Trump interfered with important government business, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday.

 

The opinion poll, conducted on Monday, did not make clear whether investigation-fatigued Americans wanted House of Representatives Democrats to pull back on their probes or press forward aggressively and just get impeachment over with.

 

The question is an urgent one for senior Democratic leaders in the House, who are wrestling with whether to launch impeachment proceedings despite likely insurmountable opposition to it in the Republican-controlled Senate.

 

On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi re-emphasized that the leaders of the investigative committees in the Democratic-controlled House were taking a step-by-step approach.

 

“This is very methodical, it’s very Constitution-based,” Pelosi said. "We won’t go any faster than the facts take us, or any slower than the facts take us.”

 

In addition to the 45 percent pro-impeachment figure, the Monday poll found that 42 percent of Americans said Trump should not be impeached. The rest said they had no opinion.

 

In comparison, an April 18-19 survey found that 40 percent of all Americans wanted to impeach Trump.

 

The latest poll showed stronger support for impeachment among Democrats and independents.

 

 

It also showed that 57 percent of adults agreed that continued investigations into Trump would interfere with important government business. That included about half of all Democrats and three-quarters of all Republicans.

 

Click here for the full poll results: https://tmsnrt.rs/2WwUWVS

 

After a nearly two-year investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller of Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, House Democrats are pursuing multiple inquiries into Trump's presidency, his family and his business interests.

 

Trump is stonewalling at least a half-dozen such inquiries, refusing to disclose his tax returns, invoking executive privilege to keep the unredacted Mueller report under wraps and filing unprecedented lawsuits to block House investigators.

 

“It’s becoming a circus over there” in Washington, said Fatima Alsrogy, 36, a T-shirt designer from Dallas who took the poll. “There are so many more important things the country needs to pay attention to right now.”

 

Alsrogy, an independent, thinks Trump should be impeached. Yet she also wishes lawmakers would do more to improve the healthcare system for self-employed people like her.

 

“I bought my own (health) insurance on an Obamacare exchange,” she said. “It’s a huge expense, and I don’t know if Obamacare is going to be amended or taken away. It’s stressful.”

 

The poll also found that 32 percent agreed that Congress treated the Mueller report fairly, while 47 percent disagreed.

 

Trump's popularity was unchanged from a similar poll that ran last week - 39 percent of adults said they approved of Trump, while 55 percent said they disapproved.

 

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English, throughout the United States. It gathered responses from 1,006 adults and had a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about 4 percentage points.

 

(Reporting by Chris Kahn; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Peter Cooney and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-05-10

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[Tug]

Not surprising in the least the good thing with all of thease scandals is that Donald is exposed for what he is so people can make an informed choice in 2020

[Puchaiyank]

Let's just cut to the chase...go ahead and have a prolonged civil war...divide the country into conservative states and progressive states...then maybe the two governments can go about the business of responding to people's needs...???? 

[Gecko123]

It's taking a while for what's in the Mueller report to filter into the public consciousness. As this begins to happen more and more people will come to realize the scope of Trump's dishonesty and corruption. Everyone should read the Mueller report for themselves, and there's no excuse for not doing so. Minus the redactions and footnotes, it's only 200 or so pages.

 

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/708850903/read-the-full-mueller-report-with-redactions

 

Trump is the biggest threat to American democracy in the history of the republic.

 

 

[Nyezhov]

9 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

It's taking a while for what's in the Mueller report to filter into the public consciousness. As this begins to happen more and more people will come to realize the scope of Trump's dishonesty and corruption. Everyone should read the Mueller report for themselves, and there's no excuse for not doing so. Minus the redactions and footnotes, it's only 200 or so pages.

Gee I have read the report and see no such thing.

[1FinickyOne]

3 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Gee I have read the report and see no such thing.

People read what news they wanted to and each accordingly built his own rathouse 

[Tug]

48 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

Let's just cut to the chase...go ahead and have a prolonged civil war...divide the country into conservative states and progressive states...then maybe the two governments can go about the business of responding to people's needs...???? 

So if someone doesent support your guy the only recourse is civil war?thats pretty drastic just because the house is trying to performers their oversite dutys

[ThaiBunny]

1 minute ago, kenk24 said:

People read what news they wanted to and each accordingly built his own rathouse 

Confirmation bias

[helpisgood]

As to Tug's first post, agreed!  Exposure of what these people have and are still doing may awaken enough of the electorate to make a difference.  There will, unfortunately, always be a minority that will support Trump no matter what horrible things he has done.  I don't understand them.  However, I hope some of Trump's 2016 support will change their minds if they realize how corrupt and how little, if any, Trump truly cares about those, esp., working people that had voted for him.  Plus, he's not the whiz businessman he presents himself to be, as those latest revealed tax returns have revealed.

 

It would also help if the Democrats offer an opposing candidate in 2020 that does not appear to be bought off by "big money" and "Wall Street," and who merely mouths a few socially progressive ideas to appear like they really care about working people (losing Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania sound familiar).

 

To get back to Tug's good point, I am old enough to remember the Senate Watergate Hearings (time flies).  Although hearings do take up some time, I recall the power of actually seeing these characters from the Nixon Admin. get sometimes grilled by Ervin's committee.  The drama unfolded! 

 

With all due respect to Mueller and his team, a 488-page report that may seem like "legalese" and a bit dry to some.   Although the summaries were a good idea, i.e., those summaries drafted by the team that had labored with the materials for many hours and not Trump's "defense counsel" named Barr.  Still, bringing some of these points to life with the right characters of the drama testifying with the right questions from Congress members would bring the story more to life, just as a great movie adds an exciting dimension to an otherwise somewhat dry book.

 

Yet, as stated above, time is of the essence.  These things take time, so that's an issue that Congress needs to take into account.  Like a good book editor, Congress will need to carefully edit their presentation to the American public and their constituencies. 

[Nyezhov]

5 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

People read what news they wanted to and each accordingly built his own rathouse 

Exactly! Kudos to you for recognizing that. 

[Gecko123]

1 minute ago, kenk24 said:

People read what news they wanted to and each accordingly built his own rathouse 

I understand where you're coming from ken24, but your post also suggests that there's no objective truth, and all we're left with is just propaganda and news cycle spin. Mueller's report is highly objective and the closest we are likely to get to the truth. People like Barr, McConnell and Trump are spinning the Mueller report as "no collusion and no obstruction" and the Fox sheeples are laping it up. But anyone who reads the Mueller report and makes the slightest effort to do so with partisanship removed from the equation, will come away highly disturbed by what they have read.

[Scott]

Off-topic post reported and removed. 

 

[quandow]

52 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

Let's just cut to the chase...go ahead and have a prolonged civil war...divide the country into conservative states and progressive states...then maybe the two governments can go about the business of responding to people's needs...???? 

Honest men have nothing to hide.

How about instead of taking sides, we all work together, open up ALL the facts, then we can make an informed decision? I am one of the most digitally vocal opponents of Trump because of his behavior (defending Putin and removing Russian sanctions against the advice of ALL his advisors), his track record of black and white obstruction (obvious to all but the most blind sycophants), and the insane way he is blocking EVERY subpoena for info - his words, not mine - that Congress is legally owed. IF all the information was made available and it was suddenly made clear Trump was clean as a whistle, I'd be the first to eat a heaping helping of crow. Instead, we have obtuse stonewalling, lies upon lies, and the stench of the guilty permeates the White House.

Honest men have nothing to hide.

 

[Dumbastheycome]

59 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

Let's just cut to the chase...go ahead and have a prolonged civil war...divide the country into conservative states and progressive states...then maybe the two governments can go about the business of responding to people's needs...???? 

I have read that the Republican/ Democrat divide is  basically a continuation of the original American Civil war anyway.

Just another one that has never actually been  won !

[marcusarelus]

1 minute ago, quandow said:

Honest men have nothing to hide.

How about instead of taking sides, we all work together, open up ALL the facts, then we can make an informed decision? I am one of the most digitally vocal opponents of Trump because of his behavior (defending Putin and removing Russian sanctions against the advice of ALL his advisors), his track record of black and white obstruction (obvious to all but the most blind sycophants), and the insane way he is blocking EVERY subpoena for info - his words, not mine - that Congress is legally owed. IF all the information was made available and it was suddenly made clear Trump was clean as a whistle, I'd be the first to eat a heaping helping of crow. Instead, we have obtuse stonewalling, lies upon lies, and the stench of the guilty permeates the White House.

Honest men have nothing to hide.

 

Name one.

[quandow]

17 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Exactly! Kudos to you for recognizing that. 

So 800 + (at last count) of former prosecuting attorneys, Rep AND Dem, read the Mueller report and ALL of them said Trump CLEARLY obstructed justice and the only reason he hasn't been arrested, convicted, and jailed is because he's a sitting president, and you're trying to say they got it wrong? Try again.

[Framptn1972]

Still never seen one of those surveys.  Teflon Don!!!

[quandow]

6 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

Name one.

Name one what?

[Nyezhov]

5 minutes ago, quandow said:

So 800 + (at last count) of former prosecuting attorneys, Rep AND Dem, read the Mueller report and ALL of them said Trump CLEARLY obstructed justice and the only reason he hasn't been arrested, convicted, and jailed is because he's a sitting president. and you're trying to say they got it wrong? Try again.

Yep. Im sure we can find 800 attorneys to say he was not. And you have to question the legal ethics of attorneys making public judgements as to the guilt and innocence of anyone, in a system where everyone is presumed inncocent. Even Donald.

 

 

[Cryingdick]

Reuters...

[Gecko123]

9 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Yep. Im sure we can find 800 attorneys to say he was not. And you have to question the legal ethics of attorneys making public judgements as to the guilt and innocence of anyone, in a system where everyone is presumed inncocent. Even Donald.

 

 

Thanks for the civics lesson, Nyezhov. Allow me to return the favor. The former prosecutors didn't say Trump was guilty, they said he would be indicted (charged) for obstruction of justice if he wasn't the sitting President.

 

[quandow]

32 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Gee I have read the report and see no such thing.

You're either being disingenuous about reading the report or being disingenuous about seeing no such thing. And, again, 800 + (at last count) former prosecuting attorneys who actually DID read the report have sworn that they would have prosecuted and easily convicted anyone committing these felonies save for the fact that the subject is currently a sitting president.

[quandow]

8 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Yep. Im sure we can find 800 attorneys to say he was not. And you have to question the legal ethics of attorneys making public judgements as to the guilt and innocence of anyone, in a system where everyone is presumed innocent. Even Donald.

 

 

You don't think the lying White House swamp monsters would round up such a gaggle if they could? Nice try.

[mtls2005]

Waste of time IMO.

 

Only two ways to remove a President, trial in the Senate, Sec. 4 of the 25th Amendment. trump could give the State of the Union address in Russian and the Senate would not convict - if the kompromat fits you must convict, not. 

 

Neither has been successfully used.

 

Barring some medical issue, or complete public breakdown, he's not goin' anywhere until Jan. 2021.

 

trump will resign on January 19, 2021, Pence will pardon him, his family and a couple of hundred others, and a real President will be sworn in, in front of what will likely be the biggest crowd ever.

 

 

 

 

[Cryingdick]

Meanwhile he has an approval rating similar to Obama's. 

[Gecko123]

3 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Waste of time IMO.

 

Only two ways to remove a President, trial in the Senate, Sec. 4 of the 25th Amendment. trump could give the State of the Union address in Russian and the Senate would not convict - if the kompromat fits you must convict, not. 

 

Neither has been successfully used.

 

Barring some medical issue, or complete public breakdown, he's not goin' anywhere until Jan. 2021.

 

trump will resign on January 19, 2021, Pence will pardon him, his family and a couple of hundred others, and a real President will be sworn in, in front of what will likely be the biggest crowd ever.

I fully understand the argument that bringing impeachment hearings might be an exercise in futility given that the republicans in the Senate are so resolutely pro-Trump. But I am increasingly persuaded by Elizabeth Warren's argument that the House doesn't have the luxury of pondering political expediency and has a duty to explore impeachment if evidence warrants doing so. I also don't see any other way to effectively educate the American people about what's in the Mueller report other than to hold impeachment hearings.

[bristolboy]

9 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

Meanwhile he has an approval rating similar to Obama's. 

Really? At 840 days into his first term, Obama had an average of 51.5%. Trump is at 42.4%. And this despite the strong showing of the economy. Trump is clearly a political genius.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo

[Puchaiyank]

41 minutes ago, Tug said:

So if someone doesent support your guy the only recourse is civil war?thats pretty drastic just because the house is trying to performers their oversite dutys

This is way bigger than Trump...while oversight committees enjoy their power and theatrics...important issues like immigration reform, healthcare overhaul, infrastructure projects, and many other important issues get tabled to pursue Trump...yes...Dems and Repubs...lets do some MMA on the Whitehouse lawn to settle the political infighting...winner take all...and get back to the business for which you were elected...

[bristolboy]

Just now, Puchaiyank said:

This is way bigger than Trump...while oversight committees enjoy their power and theatrics...important issues like immigration reform, healthcare overhaul, infrastructure projects, and many other important issues get tabled to pursue Trump...yes...Dems and Repubs...lets do some MMA on the Whitehouse lawn to settle the political infighting...winner take all...and get back to the business for which you were elected...

Because Congress can't do more than 1 thing at a time. Maybe what Congress should do is organize itself into committees to which it could delegate the various issues. That way it could address more than one thing at a time. Nah. I know. Fiction.

[mtls2005]

11 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

I fully understand the argument that bringing impeachment hearings might be an exercise in futility given that the republicans in the Senate are so resolutely pro-Trump. But I am increasingly persuaded by Elizabeth Warren's argument that the House doesn't have the luxury of pondering political expediency and has a duty to explore impeachment if evidence warrants doing so. I also don't see any other way to effectively educate the American people about what's in the Mueller report other than to hold impeachment hearings.

 

I agree with your sentiment 100%, for it is the proper thing demanded by the Constitution, and supported by anyone with at least a brief introduction to Civics. She is one of my Senators, so definitely on board with almost all of her positions and pronouncements (DNA results a massive foot-wound).

 

I may be too old, jaded but think things can be exposed - and trump looks horrible when exposed to daylight - with "normal" Congressional (sub-) committee hearings without invoking the "I" word.

 

Just look how silly Lindsey Graham looks now...