The potential removal from office of the outgoing President of the United States, Donald Trump, is more popular than any other impeachment process for a president in recent American history. However, Trump’s dismissal remains very unpopular with Republican supporters.
A look at the surveys carried out since the invasion of the US Capitol last Wednesday shows that a large number of Americans, in general, want Trump out of office, even when President-elect Joe Biden is about to take office on January 20th.
A survey of ABC News/Ipsos released on Sunday reveals that the majority (56%) of Americans say that Donald Trump should be removed from office, while 43% believe that he should not be removed.
In addition, an average of polls conducted since Wednesday shows that 50% of Americans want Trump to be removed, the 25th Amendment to be invoked or Trump to step down. A smaller percentage (43%) says that none of these situations should occur.
This historic percentage comes after House Democrats planned to introduce an impeachment resolution against Trump. The United States Constitution states that a President “will be removed from office in the event of ‘impeachment’ and conviction for treason, bribery or other serious crimes or crimes.” It is a political process and not a criminal one.
It should be noted that Donald Trump was once faced with a Democrat-driven impeachment process in December 2019 on allegations that he had unduly sought help from Ukraine to increase his chances of re-election. He faced two charges – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – but was later acquitted by the Senate, then led by Republicans.
However, this time taking him out of office was not so popular. Before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced this inquiry, only about 40% of Americans were in favor of Trump’s impeachment and dismissal.
But now, the fact that so many Americans want Trump out of office is, in fact, historically unprecedented at the start of the process, according to the CNN.
The percentage of Americans who wanted to oust Bill Clinton after his affair with Monica Lewinsky never rose above 40%. Likewise, the percentage of Americans who thought Richard Nixon should be removed or resigned from office was 40% when the House voted to formally initiate an impeachment investigation in February 1974.
As with the last time Trump was impeached, there does not seem to be much desire among Republicans to expel the President from office. For Donald Trump to be found guilty by the Senate, this time, at least 34% of the institution’s Republicans would have to vote in favor.
Support among Republicans was only 13% in the poll ABC News/Ipsos. And an average of all polls since Wednesday puts that percentage at around 15%.
Donald Trump’s term of office is only nine days away, as Joe Biden will take office as President of the United States on January 20.
What does it take to remove a President in the United States?
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