Analysis: GOP’S Trump support solid in the hyper-partisan era

WASHINGTON — The more concrete the testimony in the impeachment inquiry, the more solidly Republicans are sticking with President Donald Trump.

Witness after witness in closed-door House hearings is corroborating the core facts that Democrats say make a strong case against the president.

Trump pressured Ukraine, an American ally, for an investigation of Joe Biden, his family and the Democrats. At the same time, the Trump administration withheld military assistance for the young democracy as it confronted Russian aggression.

For Democrats, it adds up to a nothing short of a brazen abuse of power, a quid pro quo, swapping U.S. foreign policy and funds for personal political gain. “I don’t think there is any justifying this president’s misconduct,” Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee leading the inquiry said in an interview.

Republicans are having none of it. Trump says it’s all just a “witch hunt,” and his supporters agree. “The American people see this for what it is,” said Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the top Republican on the Oversight committee that’s part of the inquiry. “We see it just like the American people do, and we know — we just know — it’s wrong.”

While that investigation unfolds in the basement of the Capitol, another version plays out upstairs for the public.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gaveled a vote this week to formalize the impeachment inquiry, and the roll call split along predictable party lines.

Not a single Republican joined Democrats to agree to investigate. Among the Democrats, all but two stuck together to support the inquiry.

In previous modern-era impeachment proceedings, at least some crossed party lines to initially provide bipartisan support for the probes of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.

But times are different now. The polarizing of the country plays out in almost all aspects of political life. Impeachment proceedings, so far, are only reflecting that divide, in Congress as in the country at large.

More Americans approve than disapprove of the impeachment inquiry, 47% to 38%, according to a new poll by The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But it all depends on whom you ask.

The vast majority of Democrats approve of the inquiry, 68% of them strongly. Most Republicans disapprove, 67% strongly.