As an impeachment inquiry continues in the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, a recent poll indicates a growth in support for President Donald Trump’s impeachment.
The simple majority of Americans polled – at 51 percent – now support impeaching Trump, according to a Fox News Poll reported Wednesday. The latest numbers are a new high in favor of impeachment for Fox New’s polling.
Within the 51 percent total, some four percent support Trump being impeached in the House but not further removed by the Senate.
Since Fox News conducted similar polling in July, support for impeachment rose from nine points, from a previous 42 percent. Meanwhile opposition to Trump’s impeachment dropped from 45 percent to 40 percent in the same period of time.
Since July, support for Trump’s impeachment also rose within key Trump constituencies, with an additional five points from white evangelical Christians, eight additional points for white men without college degrees and a 10 additional points among white people living in rural areas since July.
President Trump’s job approval rating is also down in Fox News polling. His approval is currently at 43 percent, while 55 percent disapprove of his job as President. In September his approval rating was 45-54, indicating a three point shift away from his support.
Additionally, Republican Party support for Trump has dropped from 89 percent to 86 percent since September.
The apparent loss in support for Trump follows in the wake of whistleblower allegations he pressured the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden.
When the Fox poll asked about Trump’s phone call with Zelensky, 43 percent of respondents said the call was an impeachable offense, while 27 percent said the call was inappropriate but not impeachable and 17 percent said the call was appropriate.
Additionally, Trump faces an 11 point deficit among respondents who think he is “getting what he deserves” in an impeachment inquiry. Of those polled, 48 percent said Trump’s actions deserved the impeachment inquiry while 37 percent of respondents believed the inquiry is a result of “people out to get Trump.”
By contrast, people thought people were out to get former President Bill Clinton by three more points during his 1998 impeachment.
In perhaps one positive number for Trump, his popularity did increase by one point 43-56 percent, where he was at 42-56 percent in August.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who announced the impeachment inquiry, faces a negative six point gap in her own support at 42-48 percent. Despite the negative support rating, Pelosi sees the highest favorable rating among Capitol Hill leaders reported in Fox News’ poll.
House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) a strong proponent of Trump’s impeachment also faces a negative six point gap in his own support at 27-33 percent. Meanwhile roughly 40 percent of respondents did not rate him at all.
In terms of overall support for Congress, 21 percent approve of they job they are doing, while 63 percent disapprove. The latest number represents a slight drop from 21-66 percent in May.
The Fox poll, conducted by Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company (R), represents 1,003 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide with a sampling error of plus or minus three percent for all registered voters.
