Poll: 59% say Trump saw gain via Ukraine
WASHINGTON – Support for the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s dealings in Ukraine continue to grow, as does support for his removal from office, a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found.
A 55% majority of registered voters said they approved of the inquiry, while 43% said they disapproved. A week ago, 51% of voters said they approved and 45% disapproved.
The poll found that slightly less than half of Americans support impeaching Trump and removing him from office, though support for such a move has been rising since the inquiry began.
Forty-eight percent support Trump’s removal. That is 2 percentage points higher than last week and 11 points higher than on Sept. 25.
Only 10% of Republican voters approve of the inquiry, and 88% disapprove, and just 6% think Trump should be removed. By contrast, 93% of Democrats approve of the inquiry while 7% disapprove, and 86% think Trump should be removed. Among independents, 58% support the inquiry and 37% oppose it. And 49% of independents favor removing Trump from office.
Trump is accused of withholding military aid to Ukraine to pressure the country into investigating allegations related to former Vice President Joe Biden and a theory that Ukraine was involved in 2016 election meddling.
The president has denied there was any “quid pro quo” with Ukraine and said his focus was on combating corruption in that country before handing over aid. But only 33% of voters said they believe Trump was acting in the national interest, compared with 59% who believe he was pursuing his personal interests there.
“When it comes to the president’s motives in Ukraine, Republicans aren’t all on the same page. Roughly 7 in 10 Republicans say the president was pursuing the national interest in his dealings with Ukraine. The rest say he was pursuing his own personal interest or they don’t know,” said Quinnipiac University polling analyst Mary Snow.
The poll was conducted from Oct. 17-21 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%.