A steady plurality of Americans support impeaching Trump, and a steady majority support the impeachment inquiry

trump rally
trump rally

Gerry Broome/AP

  • Insider has polled Americans on their feelings on impeachment every week since House Democrats' probe into President Donald Trump began last month.

  • A plurality of respondents, hovering between 45% and 47%, have said they support impeachment in each poll. 

  • Just 30% of Americans have consistently said they oppose impeachment.

  • The impeachment inquiry has retained majority support week over week, peaking at 55% in favor.

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Americans' feelings on impeachment have hardly shifted in the three weeks that have elapsed since House Democrats' probe into President Donald Trump began, Insider's polling has found.

On a weekly basis since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump last month, Insider has polled Americans to gauge where the nation stands on proceedings to remove the president from office.

Each poll has asked a sample of more than 1,000 American adults, "Impeachment is the first step in the process of removing a president from office. Do you think the House of Representatives should impeach President Trump?"

  • Week 1: 45.2% of those polled said they "support" or "strongly support" impeachment, and  opposition, and 29.8% said they "oppose" or "strongly oppose" impeachment.

  • Week 2: 47.1% of those polled said they "support" or "strongly support" impeachment, and 29.2% said they "oppose" or "strongly oppose" impeachment.

  • Week 3:  46.6% of those polled said they "support" or "strongly support" impeachment, and 29.5% said they "oppose" or "strongly oppose" impeachment.

Insider has also polled Americans about the investigation itself, asking "Do you believe launching a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump for soliciting foreign interference in a US election is the right thing to do?"

  • Week 1: 52.1% of those polled said "definitely yes" or "probably yes," and 32.6% said "definitely not" or "probably not."

  • Week 2: 54.7% of those polled said "definitely yes" or "probably yes," and 33.5% said "definitely not" or "probably not."

  • Week 3: 52% of those polled said "definitely yes" or "probably yes," and 35% said "definitely not" or "probably not."

A consistent plurality support impeachment, but neither side has secured new support from the undecided

The relative consistency of the numbers suggest that neither supporters of impeachment, nor opponents, have won over a significant contingent of the public to their side. In addition to the answers above, each week, nearly a quarter of respondents have indicated that they either "don't know" or "neither support nor oppose" impeachment.

Nonetheless, there is potential for public opinion to shift as familiarity with the investigation rises. Our polling has suggested that knowledge of the Ukraine scandal that led to the impeachment inquiry has increased — and among respondents who are familiar with the situation, strong support of impeachment has bumped up, and strong opposition to impeachment has decreased.

Partisanship has veered sharply

Broken down by party, the results are considerably less steady. More than 70% of respondents who self-identify as Democratic voters have said they support impeachment, and more than 64% of those who self-identify as Republican voters oppose it week by week.

But those numbers fluctuated drastically two weeks after the announcement of the impeachment inquiry. As more revelations quickly emerged, Democrats moved strongly in favor of impeachment proceedings, and Republicans became more adverse to them. When Insider polled on October 4th and 5th, 82% of Democrats said they support impeaching Trump — a jump of nine percentage points. In the same vein, Republican voters saw a sharp 11-point increase in opposition to impeachment, from 64% opposed to 75%.

For comparison, among independents — characterized as respondents who said they don't plan to vote in a major party's primary or caucus, or don't know — support for impeachment has hovered around 35% each week, while opposition has stayed around 20%.

In Insider's latest poll, both Democrats' and Republicans' sentiments have returned to week one numbers, indicating that partisanship on the matter is fickle and changes quickly with the news. Still, the topic remains divisive — and the question of whether either side can win over a higher share of the American citizenry remains.

Read more:

The impeachment inquiry into Trump, explained in 60 seconds

Trump's presidency is disintegrating as he faces his worst 30 days since taking office

As the impeachment probe intensifies, 40% of Americans say they think Mike Pence would make a better president than Trump

Generally speaking, digital polling tends to skew toward people with access to the internet. SurveyMonkey Audience doesn't try to weight its sample based on race or income. Total 1,096 respondents collected September 25-26, 2019, a margin of error plus or minus 3.04 percentage points with a 95% confidence level. Total 1,083 respondents collected October 4-5, 2019, a margin of error plus or minus 3.06 percentage points with a 95% confidence level. Total 1,095 respondents collected October 15-16, 2019, a margin of error plus or minus 3.04 percentage points with a 95% confidence level. 

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