Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Survey: Impeachment Tracker (02/05/2020)

Washington, DC, February 5, 2020 — With the Senate scheduled to vote on whether President Trump is guilty or innocent of the impeachment charges against him, Americans’ perceptions on impeachment remain remarkably stable. Two in five Americans (41%) believe that Trump should be removed from office, while one-third think the charges against him should be dismissed (31%), and one-fifth say he should be censured (19%), but not removed from office. Republican registered voters and Democratic registered voters vehemently disagree on the matter - 70% of Democrats say he should be removed, compared to just 9% of Republicans. Democratic registered voters (19%) and Republican registered voters (20%) are both equally likely to say Trump should be censured.  

Following the vote in the Senate to not allow for witnesses in the impeachment trial, 40% of Americans feel that the Senate is not conducting the impeachment trial fairly – this is up 6 percentage points from last week (34%). A majority of Americans believe that President Trump is guilty of abusing power (56%) and obstructing Congress (54%). Similarly, 51% of Americans report they are increasingly convinced that Trump has done something wrong, and 45% report they are increasingly convinced he has done something impeachable and should be removed from office. Despite this, most report that the impeachment has not had an impact on their support for the president (56%). Approximately one-fifth of Americans report that the impeachment has made them more supportive of President Trump (18%), while a similar number report it has made them less supportive (21%). Approximately two in five Republican registered voters have rallied behind the president and report being more supportive of the president after the impeachment (40%). 

President Trump’s overall approval rating remains consistent – two in five Americans (42%) approve of how Trump is handling his job as president. Like impeachment perceptions, approval ratings are closely linked to partisanship. Republican registered voters overwhelmingly approve of the president (84%), and Democratic registered voters are extremely critical ( just 7% approve).   

When looking at the general direction of the country, a majority of Americans feel the country is headed in the wrong direction (52%), and just 33% report that the country is on the right track. Democratic registered voters are very pessimistic about the direction of the country (82% say it is off on the wrong track), while Republican registered voters are much more likely to say things are headed in the right direction (64%).  

Americans continue to be split on the major issues facing the country. Healthcare is a top priority for 20% of Americans, followed by the economy and jobs (16%), and immigration (13%). Democratic registered voters are most concerned with healthcare (27%), followed by the environment (13%), and the economy and jobs (12%). Republican registered voters are most concerned with immigration (25%), the economy and jobs (16%), and healthcare (12%). 

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between February 3-4, 2020 on behalf of Thomson Reuters. For this survey, a sample of 1,114 adults age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The sample includes 932 registered voters, 463 Democratic registered voters, 358 Republican registered voters, and 81 independent registered voters. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. The poll also has a credibility interval of ± 3.7 percentage points for registered voters, ± 5.2 percentage points for Democratic registered voters, ± 5.9 percentage points for Republican registered voters, and ± 12.4 percentage points for independent registered voters.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

Kate Silverstein
Media Relations, US
Public Affairs
+1 718 755-8829
[email protected]

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