A likely futile effort by Democrats to impeach and convict Donald Trump as a private citizen is proving unpopular.
A new poll from Rasmussen reveals that a majority of American voters find the push to convict Trump for “insurrection” in an upcoming Senate trial divisive, Breitbart reports.
Impeachment an unpopular move
The survey of 1,000 voters, taken Jan. 25–26, found that 57% of respondents believe the effort will further divide America. Nineteen percent said it would unite the country, 20% said it wouldn’t matter, and 4% had no opinion.
The poll also suggests that support for impeachment has faded since Joe Biden was sworn into office. In the immediate aftermath of the January riot, Rasmussen reported that about half the country felt Trump should be removed from power.
The latest poll found that about half of voters think Trump should be acquitted in the Senate trial, while 45% support his conviction.
Not surprisingly, Republicans were more likely than Democrats to oppose it, with 83% against and only 9% in favor, according to Rasmussen. But Democrats were only slightly more likely to view the impeachment favorably, with 35% saying it will unite America and 30% saying it will bring division.
Sixty-one percent of unaffiliated voters said it would divide the nation, the poll found.
Democrats persist in likely doomed effort
The impeachment effort has been colored by partisanship, with Democrats calling it necessary to hold Trump “accountable” and prevent him from seeking office ever again, while Republicans dismiss the move as driven by a petty desire to keep pursuing Trump even after his term in office has ended.
There is almost no chance the effort will succeed after all but five Senate Republicans agreed with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) that it is unconstitutional to try a private citizen. Acknowledging the likely futility of their efforts, Democrats have considered other options, like censuring Trump, NBC News notes.
Paul, for his part, has said the impeachment is “dead on arrival,” according to Breitbart, and that persistence by Democrats boils down to a “parade” of partisan theater, as reported by the Washington Examiner.
But Democrats seem committed to the spectacle for its own sake, even planning an “emotionally charged” presentation to make Republicans “uncomfortable as possible” in development.
According to Axios, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told MSNBC that Democrats “are going to show the American people — vividly, on film — what happened there in the Capitol, what Trump said… All of America will see it.”
The post Rasmussen: Most voters think Trump impeachment trial will only deepen political divisions first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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