Exclusive: Less than half of all Americans want Trump ousted post-impeachment - Reuters/Ipsos poll

By Chris Kahn

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S., December 18, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Less than half of all Americans say President Donald Trump should be removed from office following his impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Thursday, presenting a challenge for Democrats who will seek his ouster in a U.S. Senate trial.

 

The national online survey, conducted in the hours after the House voted along party lines on Wednesday to charge Trump with abusing his office and obstructing Congress, found that the rare and highly contentious act by lawmakers has done little to change minds in a divided country.

 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, had been initially hesitant to bring impeachment charges against Trump because she was concerned there would not be enough public support.

 

Her party then sought to build that support through public hearings on the allegations that Trump withheld military aid for Ukraine and pressured its president to investigate a political rival, Joe Biden, before Wednesday's historic impeachment vote.

 

When asked about the specific impeachment charges, 53% agreed that Trump abused his office and 51% agreed that he obstructed Congress.

 

Some 42% of respondents - most of them Democrats - said Congress should carry out its ultimate sanction and remove the president from office, as the Senate has the power to do.

 

Another 17% said Trump should be formally reprimanded with a congressional censure, 29% said they want the impeachment charges dismissed, and the rest said they did not have an opinion.

 

Trump, the third president in U.S. history to be impeached, now faces an impeachment trial early next year in the Senate. The Republicans who control the chamber have largely supported Trump throughout the House proceedings. The leader of the upper chamber, Senator Mitch McConnell, has said there is no chance of the president being convicted.

 

The public has remained sharply divided on impeaching Trump, who has denounced the impeachment hearings as a witch hunt and an illegal attempt to oust him from office.

 

Overall, only 44% of the American public said they approved of the House's handling of Trump's impeachment, while 41% disapproved.

 

And when asked how the impeachment left them feeling about the president, 26% said they are more supportive of Trump now, while 20% said they are less supportive, and 48% it has not changed their view one way or the other.

 

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online, in English, throughout the United States. It gathered responses from 1,108 people between Dec. 18-19 and has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of 3 percentage points.

 

(Reporting by Chris Kahn, editing by Ross Colvin; editing by Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-20

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42 minutes ago, webfact said:

Exclusive: Less than half of all Americans want Trump ousted post-impeachment - Reuters/Ipsos poll

 

This headline is a bit misleading, and one poll should never be taken as gospel. If one were to look at an average of recent polls, it would show roughly more than half the US wants him gone, while slightly less than half wants him to stay. And, a large majority does want some kind of consequential sanction(s). Finally, this is a process that should not be guided by polling; it is a process that should follow the US Constitution.

 

The simple fact is that he tried to cheat in the upcoming American election by asking a foreign government for dirt on a likely political opponent and jeopardized American National Security by withholding funds previously and legally allocated by Congress. Further, he has not cooperated  in a constitutionally mandated process of Congressional Oversight; in fact he has illegally blocked that process.

 

If he is not removed, does anyone seriously think that he will not try again? Does anyone think that he has 'Learned his Lesson'?

 

I have said it before and sadly need to say it again;

 

Donald Trump is an ever-expanding cloud of toxic waste that defiles everything it touches.

 

Remove him and end the nightmare now!

 

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Remove him and end the nightmare now!

The nightmare of more minorities in work than ever before? The nightmare of record employment numbers? The nightmare of a roaring economy? The nightmare of China agreeing to stop thefts of intellectual property and start buying US agriculture products? The nightmare of a lower tax burden for workers? 

 Might I suggest the only "nightmare" you have is the one where Madame President Hillary has her rightful victory snatched away from her by a reality TV host?

 It's been almost 4 years now! 

Yep, as expected, now that the Dems have started the ball rolling it's rolling back towards them and they are about to be crushed in the next elections. Americans saw the recent hearing and saw they hold no merit. A censure is the only thing that could have maybe gained the Dems some points with the voting public but a full blown impeachment based on no proof is something that will haunt them for many years.  

Interesting to watch the Democrat party destroy itself.

 

Go Nancy go!

Mr. Trump is found guilty where the Democrats have the majority. 

 

Mr. Trump will not been found guilty where the Republicans have the majority. 

 

This will not tell us if Mr. Trump is indeed guilty or not. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 minute ago, luckyluke said:

Mr. Trump is found guilty where the Democrats have the majority. 

 

Mr. Trump will not been found guilty where the Republicans have the majority. 

 

This will not tell us if Mr. Trump is indeed guilty or not. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When he wins the next election the voting public will have shown the answer.

5 minutes ago, HuskerDo said:

When he wins the next election the voting public will have shown the answer.

Sorry, I don't see how.

 

If he wins, it will be because a majority of people don't think he is guilty or don't care. 

 

If he lose, because a majority of people think he is guilty. 

 

1 minute ago, luckyluke said:

Sorry, I don't see how.

 

If he wins, it will be because a majority of people don't think he is guilty or don't care. 

 

If he lose, because a majority of people think he is guilty. 

 

Exactly my point. 

2 minutes ago, HuskerDo said:

Exactly my point. 

Sorry, don't understand. 

 

My point is we will never know if he is guilty or not. 

 

We will only know what a political party think he is,

 

and when elections what the majority of voters think he is. 

20 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

Sorry, I don't see how.

 

If he wins, it will be because a majority of people don't think he is guilty or don't care. 

 

If he lose, because a majority of people think he is guilty. 

 

If he loses, it could just be that people think he’s a bad President and have nothing to do with the phone call.

25 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

If he lose, because a majority of people think he is guilty. 

 

If he loses he will scream "rigged election," just like he did a few days before the 2016 election when he thought he would lose.  He'll stonewall and scream "hoax" like he's doing now with his trial.  He'll refuse to leave the WH and not accept the successor.  Who is going to do anything about it? 

 

 

 

Fair enough mogandave. 

But If he wins it could be that :

People think he is a good president and don't think the phone call is important enough to change their mind. 

The Democrats are absolute toast come next November. 

 

Bank on it. 

 

MAGA 

As an outsider,

 

I wonder where the limit is (if there is one) for the followers of Mr. Trump to consider

 

"This is acceptable"

to 

"This is too much". 

15 minutes ago, bendejo said:

 

If he loses he will scream "rigged election," just like he did a few days before the 2016 election when he thought he would lose.  He'll stonewall and scream "hoax" like he's doing now with his trial.  He'll refuse to leave the WH and not accept the successor.  Who is going to do anything about it? 

 

 

 

What, you think he’s going to Barricade himself in the Whitehouse? 

Really?

 

Do you understand how ridiculous that is?  

 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Exclusive: Less than half of all Americans want Trump ousted post-impeachment

Exclusive only in that Reuters may be the first in MSM to have their poll come out with this result. There have been many polls with similar results. Just MSM reports them.

4 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

As an outsider,

 

I wonder where the limit is (if there is one) for the followers of Mr. Trump to consider

 

"This is acceptable"

to 

"This is too much". 

Why do you call people that do not want their President kicked out of office “followers”?

 

I don’t follow this President anymore than I followed that last one. 
 

What do you see his biggest crime being?

 

 

Trump should move to Canada where the system is far more forgiving of its erring politicians.

Several Prime Ministers and provincial Premiers have indulged in blatant corruption or sexual assault or drunk driving or common assault (yes!!), but none was ever brought to any kind of political retribution.  (Most of them even went on to win subsequent elections.) 

All sailed gaily on into well-padded retirement (well ... er....one of the guilty ones still holds centre stage in Canadian political life.) 

33 minutes ago, bendejo said:

 

If he loses he will scream "rigged election," just like he did a few days before the 2016 election when he thought he would lose.  He'll stonewall and scream "hoax" like he's doing now with his trial.  He'll refuse to leave the WH and not accept the successor.  Who is going to do anything about it? 

 

 

 

The Dems have been screaming that he lost the popular election ever since he won the electoral college.

They've certainly been screaming "bad man, bad man" since he was sworn in.

Black, pots and kettles spring to mind.

 

Refuse to leave the W H 55555555555555555555555555

The secret service would escort him out when they escorted the new president in, if he did try that, which he wouldn't.

31 minutes ago, hyku1147 said:

Where is the evidence? Hearsay, opinion, *demagoguery, and **ad-hominem attacks (which are propagated by biased news organizations)  are not grounds for impeachment.

 

* A demagogue or rabble-rouser is a leader who gains popularity in a democracy by exploiting emotions, prejudice, and ignorance to arouse an audience, whipping up the passions of the crowd and shutting down reasoned deliberation.

 

** Ad hominem (Latin for "to the person"), short for argumentum ad hominem, typically refers to a fallacious argumentative strategy whereby genuine discussion of the topic at hand is avoided by instead attacking the character, motive, or other attribute of the person making the argument, or persons associated with the argument...

I assume you are talking about the Dems there, with their constant rabble rousing against the President of the United States.

18 minutes ago, mogandave said:

 

What, you think he’s going to Barricade himself in the Whitehouse? 

Really?

 

Do you understand how ridiculous that is?  

 

While I agree with you that the idea is ridiculous, what would have been thought ridiculous in the past has taken place under Trump.

Makes one reluctantly realize just how sensible Boris looks in a world of misfits????

21 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

As an outsider,

 

I wonder where the limit is (if there is one) for the followers of Mr. Trump to consider

 

"This is acceptable"

to 

"This is too much". 

Most of us are well aware of limits, and probably do not believe that Trump has crossed the line of a "High Crime or Misdemeanor worthy of impeachment. For goodness sake, even Clinton hadn't done anything bad enough, IMO, and it was just a witch hunt by the GOP to remove him, IMO.

Far as I'm concerned there hasn't been a president in my adult life time ( except Carter ) that hasn't done some bad stuff along the line. Only ones bad enough to be impeached, IMO, were Reagan and Bush the younger, and no one even tried.

14 minutes ago, mogandave said:

Why do you call people that do not want their President kicked out of office “followers”?

 

I don’t follow this President anymore than I followed that last one. 
 

What do you see his biggest crime being?

 

 

"Followers" may be not a good translation. 

I refer to the ones who "admire" him. 

He is lying frequently, I suppose that's not a crime. 

Is his telephone call to be considered as a crime? 

We will never know, as there will not be an impartial judgement on it :

Guilty for Democrats, Not guilty for Republicans. 

 

So President Trump has joined the rare club of the Impeached.

Way to go Donny boy.  I bet the late night entertainment industry will miss you when you are gone. I just hope the Democrats will find a better leader than Obama was.

He is a good speaker, but a bit of a dud as the leader he was forecast to be.

A lot like Trudeau of Canada. Mr. Black face, Sh*tface, Two face, or Mr Carbon Tax is not liked by many as well. My Opinion anyway.

 

Geezer

The polls were so spot on in 2016

16 minutes ago, alanrchase said:

While I agree with you that the idea is ridiculous, what would have been thought ridiculous in the past has taken place under Trump.

You mean like low unemployment, a strong economy, lower taxes, a booming market, Immigration reform and two great new Supreme Court Justices? 
 

Yeah, those would have been thought ridiculous a couple years ago. 

8 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

"Followers" may be not a good translation. 

I refer to the ones who "admire" him. 

He is lying frequently, I suppose that's not a crime. 

Is his telephone call to be considered as a crime? 

We will never know, as there will not be an impartial judgement on it :

Guilty for Democrats, Not guilty for Republicans. 

 

The Dems have the solution to Trump- find someone to defeat him at the polls. Oh, that's right, they can't, LOL.

I don't believe that Trump tried to get dirt on Biden for the election, as obviously, IMO, Biden had no chance of defeating Trump in a good economy. Perhaps he wanted Biden arrested for crimes he committed in Ukraine. I wasn't there so I can't say what the reason was, but for the election, no.

1 hour ago, HuskerDo said:

When he wins the next election the voting public will have shown the answer.

https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/nearly-half-of-voters-say-they-won-t-vote-for-trump-in-20-75337285712