President Donald Trump at the presentation ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the White House in Washington, on Aug. 22, 2019. (Mandel Ngan/Getty Images)

Politico Poll: No Increased Voter Desire for Trump Impeachment

By Jack Phillips

A new poll found that a majority of Americans don’t support impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

A Politico and Morning Consult poll, conducted before Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) announcement that an inquiry into impeachment would take place, found that 36 percent of likely voters said they think Congress should start impeachment proceedings against Trump.

That’s down from 37 percent last week.

The poll released on Tuesday, Sept. 24 found that 49 percent said Congress should not start the impeachment proceedings.

“Despite being a popular topic in the news, support for impeachment proceedings remains relatively unchanged in the past week,” said Tyler Sinclair, Morning Consult’s vice president, on the Politico website. “This week, 36 percent of registered voters, including 33 percent of independents and 5 percent of Republicans, support impeachment. These numbers have remained steady over the summer, with little impact from the latest whistleblower complaint centered on Ukraine so far.”

Around 66 percent of Democrats surveyed support the impeachment probe, the poll found.

Another Poll

A poll conducted by Quinnipiac University was completed before the White House released a transcript of a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and also before Pelosi made the announcement on an inquiry regarding impeachment.

The poll found that 37 percent of registered voters said Trump should be impeached and removed from office.

But another 57 percent of responders in the Quinnipiac poll said that Trump should not be impeached.

Complaint Released

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, released the complaint to the public on Thursday.

A so-called whistleblower filed the complaint after receiving information the person thought showed that Trump was “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country.”

The person said they’ve spoken to more than six U.S. officials who have conveyed information supporting the claim, and they specifically mentioned the July 25 call between Trump and Zelensky.

In a statement accompanying the release of the complaint, Schiff said, “This complaint should never have been withheld from Congress. It exposed serious wrongdoing, and was found both urgent and credible by the Inspector General.”

“This complaint is a roadmap for our investigation, and provides significant information for the Committee to follow up on with other witnesses and documents. And it is corroborated by the call record released yesterday,” he said. “I want to thank the whistleblower for having the courage to come forward, despite the reprisals they have already faced from the president and his acolytes. We will do everything in our power to protect this whistleblower, and every whistleblower, who comes forward. The public has a right to see the complaint and what it reveals.”

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.