Former US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania. EPA=Yonhap News
U.S. public opinion diverged ahead of the Senate’s second judgment on impeachment of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump’s second judgment on impeachment, accused of inciting civil war, begins on the 9th. Former President Trump also stood on the impeachment trial in the so-called’Ukrainian scandal’ earlier last year.
According to a poll released by US polling firm Gallup on the 8th (local time), 52% of respondents wanted to pass impeachment in the Senate. 45% opposed passing the impeachment bill. While the pros and cons boiled, the scales leaned toward favor of impeachment. In January of last year, the pattern of public opinion was different from now. 46% were in favor of impeachment and 51% were opposed.
In this survey, the voting results were clearly mixed for each supporting party. Of the respondents who tended to support the Democratic Party, 89% agreed to the impeachment and only 7% opposed the impeachment. Among the respondents who favored the Republican Party, only 10% agreed and 88% opposed the impeachment.
Meanwhile, 51% of respondents in the survey assessed that the economy had improved during the four years in office by former President Donald Trump.
The survey was conducted on 906 adults from January 21st to February 2nd, with a sample error of ±4%.
The impeachment proposal is highly likely to be rejected. For the impeachment bill to be passed, more than two-thirds of the 100 seats in the Senate must be approved by 67 people. Currently, there are 50 seats in the Democratic Party’s camp, including independents.
Separately, if the impeachment proposal is rejected, measures to ban Trump from running for office could be discussed. It is based on Article 14, Paragraph 3 of the Amendment, which states that if a public official engages in a riot or rebellion, he or she cannot take office, and can be passed with the approval of a majority of the Senate.
Reporter Lee Hae-jun [email protected]