Most Americans now want Donald Trump impeached. Congress, as usual, is moving at a very different speed.
A new poll of 790 registered voters puts support for impeaching Trump at 52%, with opposition sitting at 40%. Buried in the partisan breakdown is the number nobody in the GOP wants to talk about. One in seven Republicans is on board.
That number alone tells a story.
According to John Bonifaz, the attorney and poll overseer, this was “an unprecedented result this early in a presidential term.” Even treating this as Trump’s second term, the contrast is glaring. Voters reacted to Richard Nixon more slowly, and Nixon at least had the tapes slowing the process.
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The Iran war is doing most of the damage. Trump’s approval fell to 39% in early April, down from 42% before the war began in late February, with 53% now disapproving. Threatening to wipe out a civilization on social media tends to move numbers in one direction.
The party numbers are where it gets interesting. Democrats support impeachment by overwhelming margins, 84% to 8%. Republicans remain largely opposed, but that 14% backing removal is doing real damage. Independents have shifted as well, with 55% now supporting impeachment and 34% opposed.
Voters are clear on what they want. Their representatives are less enthusiastic.
Impeachment in the House requires a simple majority, which Democrats do not have. Conviction in the Senate requires two-thirds, which Republicans are nowhere near supporting. The numbers in the country and the numbers in Congress are telling two very different stories.
That gap has not stopped attempts.
Representative Al Green tried twice last year to force impeachment votes. Both failed. This week, Connecticut Democrat John Larson introduced new articles, arguing Trump has “blown past every requirement” for removal and pointing directly at the Iran war as the breaking point.
Trump, for his part, is not concerned. At a previous rally he went after the lawmaker pushing impeachment by name. “Today they did it again. Some guy that I’ve never heard of, is he a congressman? This guy, he said, ladies and gentlemen, I am going to start the impeachment of Donald Trump. What the hell did I do? Here we go again.”
He has also privately acknowledged the stakes. At a House Republican retreat in January, he told lawmakers directly: “You gotta win the midterms, ’cause if we don’t win the midterms, they’ll find a reason to impeach me. I’ll get impeached.” At least he is being honest about that one.
Republicans still control the House, holding a narrow 218 to 214 majority with three vacancies. That margin is thin, and it could get thinner. Analysts already list 14 Republican-held seats as toss-ups, and just a few flips could change everything.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
