Poll: 80% Trump Voters, 76% of Republicans Less Likely to Vote for Lawmaker Who Votes for Impeachment
The vast majority of Trump supporters and Republicans in battleground states are less likely to vote for a member of Congress who votes in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump, a January 12 memo from the pollster John McLaughlin of McLaughlin & Associates found.
The memo, addressed to Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller, provided a slate of findings based on the opinions of 800 voters in battleground states taken January 10-11. States include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
According to the survey, 60 percent of battleground voters view the Democrats’ second impeachment effort as a waste of time. Moreover, 80 percent of Trump voters and 76 percent of Republicans indicated that they are less likely to vote for a member of Congress who votes in favor of impeaching Trump — a finding that comes as the House gathers Wednesday to vote on impeaching him yet again, accusing him of inciting the violence that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. More broadly, among all voters surveyed, 48 percent say they are “less likely” to vote for a member of Congress who votes to impeach Trump.
Speaking on the House floor on Wednesday, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), chair of the House Rules Committee, told his colleagues that Trump effectively “organized” and “incited” the protests that occurred despite the fact that the commander-in-chief repeatedly called for peace and never once instructed or encouraged supporters to engage in lawless acts.
Overall, the survey showed that impeaching Trump in the final days of his presidency is widely unpopular. Nearly three-quarters of all voters “agree that efforts by Pelosi and the Democrats to try to impeach the President after [President-elect] Joe Biden is sworn in would be politically motivated to prevent the President from running again, stripping his Secret Service protection, and preventing him from having a Presidential Library,” per the memo.
A majority of voters, 65 percent, say Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are “making this worse and keeping the country divided” by continuing to attack Trump.
At least five GOP lawmakers have publicly expressed their support for impeachment, including Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), John Katko (R-NY), Fred Upton (R-MI), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), and Liz Cheney (R-WY).