Majority of Americans agree Trump should be removed from office

A clear majority of Americans support the Senate voting to remove Donald Trump from office during his impeachment trial, according to a new CNN poll published Monday, first national poll since the House of Representatives transferred the articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate.

The poll showed that 51% of Americans support removing Trump, while 45% of Americans want the Senate to vote against convicting Trump. Support for removing Trump from office is highest among women of color (79%) and lowest among white men (33%).

When it comes to the specific articles of impeachment against Trump, Americans overwhelming side against Trump. When asked if they believe Trump abused the power of the presidency “to obtain an improper personal political benefit,” 58% said yes. Further, 57% agreed that Trump obstructed Congress during its impeachment investigation.

The poll marks an uptick in the percentage of Americans who want to see Trump removed from office, with eight previous polls released in January and tracked by FiveThirtyEight showing support for removal below 50%.

The Senate trial of Trump is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, and one of the unresolved questions deals with witnesses. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican senators want a grand total of zero witnesses, a position far outside the mainstream view, according to the CNN poll.

Almost 7 in 10 Americans (69%) support new witnesses who did not testify in the House testifying before the Senate. Even among the GOP, more Republicans support new witness testimony (48%) than oppose it (44%).

Since the House voted to impeach Trump, even more evidence has come to light. In an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas declared Trump “knew exactly what was going on” with regards to efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. Further, Parnas implicated additional members of the Trump administration who were involved, as well as Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.

Despite the fact that several Republican senators have openly stated they will not be impartial jurors in the trial, a slim majority of Americans (53%) told CNN they believe Senate Republicans will conduct a fair trial.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.