(Trends Wide) — 60% of Americans approve of impeaching former President Donald Trump, according to a new Trends Wide poll conducted by SSRS following news that a New York grand jury voted to indict him in connection with alleged hush money payments made adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
About three-quarters of Americans say politics played at least some role in the decision to impeach Trump, including 52% who said it played a role.
The independents are aligned mostly in favor of the accusation: 62% approve and 38% disapprove. Democrats are nearly universal in their support for impeachment (94% approve, including 71% strongly approve), with Republicans less unified in opposition (79% disapprove, with 54% disapprove). firmly).
Although opinions on the impeachment are divided along the lines of parties, the poll reveals that the majority of the main demographic groups approve of the decision to impeach the former president. This includes gender (62% of women, 58% of men), racial and ethnic groups (82% of black adults, 71% of Hispanic adults, 51% of white adults), generation lines ( 69% under 35; 62% 35-49; 53% 50-64; 54% 65 and over) and education levels (68% with college degrees, 56% with some education or less). .
Trends Wide reported that the former president faces more than 30 charges related to business fraud, but the indictment remains sealed and the charges were not publicly known at the time of the poll. The investigation relates to a $130,000 payment made by Trump’s then-personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to Daniels in late October 2016, days before that year’s presidential election, to silence her from going public. alleged affair with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the affair. At stake in the investigation is the payment made to Daniels and the Trump Organization’s reimbursement to Cohen.
A scant 10% of those polled consider Trump innocent of the payments made to Daniels, but Americans are divided on whether his actions were illegal or simply unethical. About 4 in 10 say he acted illegally (37%), 33% said it was unethical but not illegal, and another 20% said he wasn’t sure. Just 8% of politically independents say Trump did nothing wrong, and the rest mostly agree with the allegation even if they aren’t already convinced Trump did something illegal.
Even among those who disapprove of the impeachment, the perception that Trump’s actions were questionable is fairly widespread, with about half of that group saying Trump did something wrong in connection with the payments to Daniels (52%). However, many more in that group say they acted unethically rather than illegally (49% unethical, 3% illegal), with the remainder split between thinking they did nothing wrong (23%) and not being sure ( 24%). Among those who approve of the decision to impeach Trump, only 1% say his actions were not wrong at all, while 59% call them illegal and 23% unethical.
The poll suggests that the impeachment did not have a major effect on personal opinion of Trump. The poll puts his approval rating at 34% favorable to 58% unfavorable, similar to his position in a January Trends Wide poll, in which 32% viewed the former president favorably and 63% unfavorably. Among Republicans, 72% have a favorable opinion in the new poll, similar to the 68% who thought so in January.
Most Americans (76%) believe that politics played at least some role in the decision to impeach Trump, who is both a former president and a current candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. About half (52%) ) consider it played “a significant role” in the decision, while around a quarter say it played a minor role and 14% say it played no role at all. Another 10% are not sure if politics was a factor in the grand jury vote.
Nearly all Republicans, 93%, believe the impeachment was politically motivated, including 83% who say politics played a role. Among independents, 52% say politics played an important role, a percentage that drops to 25% among Democrats.
Americans are divided on the effect impeachment can have on democracy. Roughly three in ten believe the decision strengthens American democracy (31%) and an equal percentage think it weakens it (31%). Approximately a quarter believe that it has no effect on democracy (23%) and 15% are not sure.
In general, Republicans consider that it weakens democracy (62%). Two-thirds of those who disapprove of the impeachment feel the same (67%), as do 54% of those who believe that politics played an important role in the decision to impeach. Most Democrats believe it strengthens democracy (55%). Among those who approve of the accusation, 48% say that it reinforces democracy and 30% that it has no effect on it.
The poll also reveals that Americans are divided on the investigation launched by House Republicans into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s handling of the Trump case, with 38% saying they disapprove of the GOP’s efforts. to research it, with 35% saying they approve, and a hefty 27% not sure how they feel about the research.
More than 9 in 10 Americans have heard at least some of the landmark indictment, with 51% saying they have heard a lot. Democrats are the most likely to be very aware, with 56% saying they have heard a lot about the allegations, versus 48% for independents and Republicans.
The Trends Wide poll was conducted by SSRS on March 31 and April 1 among a random national sample of 1,048 adults surveyed by text message after being recruited using probabilistic methods. Results for the full sample have a sampling error of plus or minus 4.0 percentage points. It is greater for the subgroups.
Ariel Edwards-Levy contributed to this article.
