A majority of Americans are now in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump and removing him from the office compared to their positions in June, according to a new poll by the Gallup organization.
The poll taken from Oct. 1 to 13 reveals 52% of respondents saying Trump should be impeached and removed from office, while 46% say he shouldn't be. This is the opposite of what Gallup found in June when it asked the question in the context of former special counselor Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Gallup said Democrats' and independents' support for impeachment has grown since June. On the other hand, Republicans' views haven't changed. Gallup pointed out the change among independents is enough that 55% of this group now favors Trump being impeached and removed from office.
Support for impeachment among Democrats in June hit at 81% but is now even higher at 90% in the wake of even more stunning revelations of Trump's impeachable conduct over the past few weeks. Just 6% of Republicans favor Trump being impeached.
Gallup said support for Trump's impeachment is higher because of the near-universal support for impeaching him among Democrats. More Democrats now favor Trump's removal from the office than did for Nixon in July 1974 (71%).
Gallup said as many independents now favor Trump being impeached as did Nixon at the same time. But far fewer Republicans want Trump to be removed than wanted Nixon to be (31%).
Gallup's new poll also revealed that the approval rating of Congress is now at 25%, up from 18% before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry in September following news of possible wrongdoing by the president in communications with Ukraine.
The increase in approval of Congress over the past month is the result of a 15% jump among Democrats (from 19% to 34%), as well as a smaller increase among independents (from 19% to 25%). Republicans' rating of Congress remains stable at 17%.
Trump's approval rating has remained flat at 39%, said Gallup, compared with 40% in the late September update. It's on the low end of the 37% to 46% range recorded in 2019. Currently, 87% of Republicans, 34% of independents and 5% of Democrats approve of the job Trump is doing.
Gallup also said the level of support for Trump's impeachment is much higher than it ever was for former president Bill Clinton and above that for former president Richard Nixon in all but a final poll taken before Nixon's resignation.
"In myriad ways, the headwinds Trump's faces are quite different from the ones faced by his embattled predecessors," said Gallup. "Today's hyper-partisan environment" is partially responsible as nearly all Democrats favor removing Trump from office.
Gallup's findings showing support for Trump's impeachment are similar to several recent surveys. One of those polls, which was conducted by Fox News, found 51% of voters want Trump impeached and removed from office.
