Nate Silver speculates Senate rejecting witnesses may 'leave a bitter taste' in voters' mouths
Could the Senate's failure to call additional impeachment witnesses come back to haunt Republicans this November?
FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver speculated as much Friday morning as the Senate appears poised to not call new witnesses in President Trump's impeachment trial. This is despite the fact that polling has shown Americans, including 75 percent of registered voters in a recent Quinnipiac poll, are supportive of new witnesses being called.
With this in mind, Silver on Friday speculated about the "electoral consequences," wondering if the impending move might "leave a bitter taste in a lot of voters' mouths" this November.
For some reason it's considered uncool on this platform to talk about the electoral consequences of decisions around impeachment, but not calling witnesses may leave a bitter taste in a lot of voters' mouths. https://t.co/dvn9ES3Tp9
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) January 31, 2020
Support for witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial:
Quinnipiac 75
Monmouth 80
Reuters 72
CNN 69
AP/NORC 68
WaPo 71That's an average of 73%!
Republicans are blocking witnesses while admitting Trump engaged in a quid pro quo. Will voters punish them in November for it?
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) January 31, 2020
Still, The Washington Post's Philip Bump points out that the 75 percent of voters in the Quinnipiac poll, for example, includes 49 percent of Republicans, and the witnesses Democrats want "are almost certainly not the same witnesses supported by that plurality of Republicans." Indeed, while Democrats have pushed for testimony from former National Security Adviser John Bolton, Republicans have pushed for testimony from former Vice President Joe Biden. Bump notes, then, that "Both sides support witnesses — but only in the abstract."
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