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    Sunday, June 02, 2024

    Days before House vote, Quinnipiac poll shows a slim majority of voters oppose impeachment

    Hartford — Just days before the House of Representatives is expected to vote, President Donald Trump’s approval rating is at its highest point ever and a slim majority of voters remain opposed to impeachment, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday.

    Voters’ views on impeachment remain unchanged from last week’s poll, when 51% of voters said that Trump should not be impeached and removed from office, while 45% said that he should be impeached and removed. That poll was the first time since the inquiry began that more than half of registered voters indicated opposition to impeachment.

    The poll was released the day the House Judiciary Committee released its report on the impeachment inquiry, in which it laid out its argument that Trump abused the power of his office. A House debate and vote on impeachment will likely occur Wednesday.

    “A 50-year low unemployment rate coupled with stocks hitting record highs are adding up to a rosy view of the economy and voters feeling optimistic about their own personal finances. That view of a strong economy seems to be helping President Trump match his highest job approval rating since being elected, despite facing becoming the third president in U.S. history to be impeached this week,” said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Mary Snow.

    In the latest poll, 43% of registered voters approve of Trump’s job performance — matching his best job approval rating ever — compared to 52% of voters who disapprove. That approval rating was also a slight increase from the 38% of voters who approved of the job he was doing in late October, prior to the start of the impeachment hearings, when 58% disapproved.

    Approval is divided on party lines, as 92% of Republicans approve of the president’s performance while 94% of Democrats disapprove.

    The majority of voters have been engaged with the impeachment inquiry, according to the poll, with 59% of voters reporting that they have been paying a lot of attention to the probe. But most voters have locked in their opinions on impeachment, with 87% of voters saying that their mind is made up, while only 12% say that they might change their mind.

    “While a slight majority of voters oppose impeaching the president, a plurality of voters believe the president held up military aid to Ukraine because he wanted the president of Ukraine to announce investigations that would benefit Trump politically,” Snow said.

    Registered voters are also the most optimistic about the economy they have been in the last 18 years, as 73% describe the economy as excellent or good, while 25 say it is not so good or poor. The vast majority of voters, 79%, say that they are optimistic about their own financial future, according to the poll.

    Former Vice President Joe Biden still leads the pack of candidates for the 2020 Democratic primary, securing 30% of the vote among Democratic voters and Democratic-leaning independent voters, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 17%, Sen. Bernie Sanders at 16%, and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 9%. Those candidates are trailed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at 7% and Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Andrew Yang at 3% each.

    But the Democratic primary is far from assured, as 61% of voters say they might change their mind, while 38% say that their mind is made up.

    The nationwide survey of 1,390 self-identified registered voters, which has a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points, was conducted Dec. 11-15.

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