Over 50% of Americans believe Trump deserves impeachment, Politico says

A new public opinion poll has found that 54% of Americans believe US President Donald Trump has committed offences warranting impeachment.

Source: a poll conducted by Politico between 16 and 19 October, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The results show that 81% of voters planning to support Democrats in the midterm congressional elections and a quarter of Republican voters intending to vote believe Trump has committed offences that should trigger impeachment proceedings.

More than 41% of respondents said he had used his office as president for financial gain for himself or his family.

A third of those surveyed believe Democrats should prioritise investigating how Trump enriched himself, while another third think they should focus on investigating his tough measures against immigrants.

Meanwhile, most respondents from both political camps said Trump's first two impeachments had no impact on the president or his political course. More Americans believe another impeachment would make Trump more popular (24%) than less popular (18%).

Democratic voters are also divided over whether their candidates should raise the issue of impeachment during campaigns for the midterm elections. Some 43% of respondents believe candidates should announce plans to pursue impeachment even if this costs Democrats votes, while 41% favour avoiding the issue if doing so would help them win the election.

It is worth noting that the US House of Representatives impeached Trump twice during his first term: in 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress and again in 2021 for inciting an insurrection during the storming of the Capitol. Just one presidential election cycle later, he returned to the White House with 312 electoral votes.

To impeach a US president, the decision must be approved by both chambers of Congress: a majority in the House of Representatives (218 votes) and two-thirds of the Senate (67 votes). No US president has ever been removed from office through this procedure.

Background:

• Trump's approval rating recently fell to a record low ahead of the midterm congressional elections scheduled for 3 November. It currently stands at 31%.
• The US midterm elections will take place on 3 November. Trump previously said he would pay every adult American a US$5,000 "Trump dividend" if Republicans retain control of Congress in the November midterms.

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