Despite a near constant drumbeat of controversy out of the White House, it still seems unlikely President Donald Trump is anywhere near being impeached by a Congress controlled by his party, the Republicans. But more Americans now support doing so than oppose the idea, according to a new poll released Tuesday.
The survey from Public Policy Polling (PPP)—a firm that does public polls as well as polling for Democratic candidates—found 48 percent of voters support impeaching Trump while 41 percent do not. It is the first time the firm found more voters supported such a move than opposed.
Just 43 percent of voters thought Trump would finish out the four-year term as president, while 45 percent thought he wouldn't. That seems to be in alignment with Las Vegas oddsmakers, as Bovada.lv gives betters a 2/1 chance on 2017 being Trump's exit year as president.
The PPP survey even seemed to illustrate a bit of regret among Trump voters. By a margin of 49 percent to 41 percent, voters said they wished Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton—who won the popular vote by some 3 million votes—was president. Ten percent of Trump voters said they wished the former of secretary of state was president, according to the survey.
The impeachment process would be a long one even if it was triggered by Congress, and it would not necessarily guarantee Trump was removed from office. But numerous experts and scholars have said the president has already done enough to get that process under way, including by seemingly suggesting the FBI's investigation into allegations of his campaign's collusion with Russia played a part in his firing of Director James Comey.
"He arguably could be impeached now," Allan Lichtman, a history professor at American University who is a renowned election predictor, told Newsweek last week. "Arguably he's already obstructed justice and already violated the emoluments clause [regarding receiving gifts from foreign governments]. I'm not saying we should impeach him now, I'm calling for an impeachment investigation."
The PPP survey polled 692 registered voters from May 12 through May 14 both over the phone and online. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
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