Americans split down the middle on impeaching Trump: National poll

Americans are now evenly divided on whether President Trump should be impeached, with numbers supporting his removal rising week by week, according to a new national survey by Public Policy Polling.

"Just three weeks into his administration, voters are already evenly divided on the issue of impeaching Trump, with 46 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed," the poll found. "Support for impeaching Trump has crept up from 35 percent two weeks ago, to 40 percent last week, to its 46 percent standing this week."

Or as Dean Debnam, president of the polling firm, put it:

"It took only three weeks in office for half the country to decide it wants to impeach Donald Trump. Voters who didn't like Trump but were willing to give him a chance have quickly decided he's not fit to hold the office."

The survey's approval/disapproval findings echoed those of recent Gallup and Quinnipiac University polls: 43 percent of those surveyed approving the job that Trump is doing, while 53 percent give thumbs down to the job performance of the 45th president.

Public Policy Polling has Democratic roots, but accurately reported and predicted downturns in President Obama's popularity over the past eight years.

The poll's findings show that President Trump has not been wise in picking a fight with the federal judiciary, such as his denunciation of Thursday's ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appellate judges kept in place a restraining order against Trump's travel crackdown.

Fifty-three percent of those surveyed by PPP say they trust judges more to make the right decisions for the United States, versus 38 percent who trust in Trump.

"And only 25 percent of voters think Trump should be able to overturn decisions by judges he disagrees with, to 64 percent who don't think he should be able to do that," the survey found.

"Trump voters have evidently had enough of the Constitution and those pesky checks and balances, though -- 51 percent of them think he should personally be able to overturn decisions he doesn't agree with , to only 33 percent who dissent."

Alec Baldwin does his Donald Trump impersonation: A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Saturday Night Live with more credibility than President Trump, by a 48-43 percent margin. Photo Credits: NBC, Will Heath/NBC less Alec Baldwin does his Donald Trump impersonation: A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Saturday Night Live with more credibility than President Trump, by a 48-43 percent margin. Photo Credits: NBC, Will ... more Photo: 2017 NBCUniversal Media, LLC Photo: 2017 NBCUniversal Media, LLC Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Americans split down the middle on impeaching Trump: National poll 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Two-thirds of those polled believe that America is a safe place. "Perhaps as an outgrowth of that sentiment, only 45 percent support Trump's Executive Order on immigration, to 49 percent who are opposed to it," PPP said.

The poll found, by a 48-43 percent spread, that voters believe that the intent of the Executive Order on travel is to be a ban on Muslims. The President sought to prohibit travel to the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim nations, but has been restrained by federal courts. Only 22 percent of Americans support a Muslim ban, the poll found.

The PPP survey was taken February 7 and 8, and consisted of interviews with 712 registered voters.

One more finding, in PPP's words: "The Presidency has been so diminished over the last three weeks that voters say even Saturday Night Live has more credibility than Trump, 48 percent to 43 percent."

Alec Baldwin will don his orange wig and do another Trump impression on Saturday night.