A rare majority of Americans say they support a Senate conviction of former President Donald Trump in his indictment, which begins Tuesday.
Fifty-two percent of people polled in a new Gallup poll want Trump convicted, while 45 percent say senators should acquit the former president. There was a similar response in a ABC News / IPSOS poll released on Sunday, with 56% pleading guilty and 43% supporting acquittal.
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These numbers are in line with two national polls released last week. Half of all Americans wanted Trump to be convicted and 45% demanded acquittal in a Quinnipiac University poll, and a Marist national poll showed that 50% support conviction and 41% that lawmakers should acquit Trump word.
The House of Representatives last month accused the then president of inciting the January 6 uprising at the US Capitol by right-wing extremists and other Trump supporters. Five people, including a Capitol police officer, were killed during the storming of the building, which came when Congress confirmed the victory of President Biden’s Electoral College over Trump. The indictment was supported by all 222 Democrats in the House as well as by 10 Republicans, with 197 representatives of the IDP voting against the indictment.
FILE – In this January 6, 2021, file-photo rioters are loyal to President Donald Trump by breaking a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington. Arguments begin Tuesday, Feb. 9, in Donald Trump’s indictment over allegations that he incited the violent crowd that stormed the U.S. capital on January 6 (AP Photo / John Minchillo, File)
The trial on Tuesday begins with a four-hour debate by the 100 senators on whether it is constitutional to accuse a former president. In a recent Senate vote, 45 of the House’s 50 Republicans voted against holding the trial, saying it was unconstitutional. Only five Senate Republicans joined the 50 Democrats in rejecting the idea that a former president could not be tried on indictment. This was an important indication that a conviction of Trump in the Senate hearing – which requires 67 votes – would probably fall far short.
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Trump’s second indictment – the first in American history – comes a year after his first trial.
‘The public now supports Trump more than in January 2020, just before his first Senate hearing, after he was accused of approving foreign aid to Ukraine through Congress to secure a political favor and obstruct Congress in its investigation into the case, “Gallup stressed in its poll.” At that point, 46% said they preferred conviction and 51% did not. “
The then president was acquitted in the first trial.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump Join Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, January 20, 2021. (AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta)
The 56-43% support for acquittal in the new ABC News / IPSOS poll is also a conversion of the 47% support for conviction and 49% support for acquittal in a survey by ABC News / Washington Post which only before the 2020 trial was done.
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All the latest recordings indicate a wide division over the trial.
Eighty-nine percent of Democrats polled in the Gallup poll support conviction, with 88 percent of Republicans supporting acquittal. Independents with a margin of 54% -43%. This is a similar story in the ABC News / IPSOS survey, with 92% of Democrats but only 15% of Republicans finding themselves guilty. Independents with a margin of 54% -45% support acquittal.
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The Gallup poll is on Jan. 21 through Feb. 2, with the ABC News / IPSOS survey conducted on 5-6 February.