Most Voters Oppose Trump Impeachment

You are not signed in as a Premium user; you are viewing the free version of this program. Premium users have access to full-length programs with limited commercials and receive a 10% discount in the store! Sign up for only one day for the low cost of $1.99. Click the button below.

See All Plans

DETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) - Most Americans do not want former President Donald Trump convicted in the upcoming Senate trial and believe his conviction would lead to a more divided country, a new survey shows. 

A Rasmussen report published Thursday finds 50% of U.S. voters say the Senate should not convict President Trump in a trial starting Feb. 9. Forty-five percent of voters, however, believe Trump should be convicted. The Senate is deciding whether to convict Trump of  "high crimes and misdemeanors" for supposedly inciting violence at the Capitol building Jan. 6.

An even larger margin, however, thinks the impeachment trial will lead to a more divided country. Almost 60% of those surveyed believe Trump's impeachment trial will divide America even more. Only 19% think the trial will help unify the country. Twenty percent say the trial will not make a significant difference either way.

Not surprisingly, findings were split along party lines. Eighty percent of GOP voters say Trump should be acquitted in the Senate trial while 75% of Democrats believe the Senate should convict Trump. Among voters unaffiliated with either major party, 54% say Trump should be acquitted.

The survey was conducted Jan. 25–26 by both a telephone and online survey of 1,000 likely voters.

Evidence Lacking for 'Incitement'

Despite such findings — and growing evidence against the incitement case — Democrats are pressing ahead.

"Make no mistake, there will be a trial, and the evidence against the former president will be presented in living color for the nation and every one of us to see once again," threatened Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

According to Just the News on Friday, a big blow was dealt to the case against Trump when federal prosecutors accused three men in the Capitol attack, discovering their planning went all the way back to November.

Questions also remain regarding how much House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell knew in advance about potential — or even planned — violence. 

And pointing to what many observers have already noted, Kevin Brock, former assistant director of intelligence for the FBI, argued that Trump's speech does not meet the threshold for violence.

Brock explained that for a speech to meet this criterion, two things must happen — a speaker must desire violence and demonstrate a capability to carry out the violence. "In Trump's case," Brock said, "there were neither."

Further, the former FBI assistant director said Trump's Jan. 6 speech did not include "a single word about — or anything that would trigger a reasonable person to believe that he was inciting — violence."

"He even used the words 'peaceful' and 'respectful,'" Brock underscored.

'Failure' and Pessimism

Brock thinks that Trump "was caught by surprise at what happened" and that there was "a failure, frankly, on the intelligence that he should have been provided as president of the United States." 

Adding to the confusion — even pessimism — American voters are expressing in recent polls, another Rasmussen survey published this week found most voters think the country has become more divided since election day, and fewer than 1 in 5 voters say they are very confident President Biden will be able to unite Americans.

Have a news tip? Submit news to our tip line.

We rely on you to support our news reporting. Please donate today.