Most people think Democrats will impeach President Donald Trump again if they win on November 3, even though the past two impeachments were ineffectual - and more think it’ll increase Trump’s popularity than believe it’ll make him less popular, a new Politico poll reveals.
What’s more, just as many of those planning to vote Democrat on Nov. 3 say their candidates should conceal their plans to impeach Trump - if it’ll help them win - as say they should admit they’ll impeach, even if it hurts their campaigns.
In a national poll of U.S. adults conducted October 16-19, Politico asked a series of questions regarding a potential third impeachment of Trump by Democrats, if they gain control of the House in the midterm elections.
More than two-thirds (69%) of adults said that it’s likely that Democrats will try to impeach Trump if they win the House, including 41% who say it’s “very likely.” That belief is even stronger among those who voted for either Trump (77%) or Democrat Kamala Harris (75%) in the 2024 presidential election. Meanwhile, half (50%) of those who didn’t vote deemed impeachment likely.
Only 18% called it unlikely that a Democrat-majority House would try to impeach Trump, while 13% replied that they “don’t know.”
Ironically, more U.S. adults said Democrats’ third impeachment of Trump would make him more popular (24%) than said it would hurt his popularity (18%). Another 34% said it wouldn’t have an effect, while 24% didn’t know.
The plurality’s belief that another impeachment would boost, not hurt, Trump’s popularity increases with the age, from a virtual tie of 18%-17% among those age 18-24 to a two-to-one advantage (30%-15%) among those 65 and over.
Additionally, only one in four U.S. adults said the previous two impeachments of Trump made a difference.
Fully 56% reported that the first and second impeachments “had no real impact on Donald Trump and his agenda,” including 62% of Trump voters and 64% of Harris voters - more than twice the number who said they did have an impact.
Similar percentages of all U.S. adults (24%), Trump voters (26%) and Harris voters (26%) said they think the last two impeachments had an impact.
Notably, winning is more important than honesty for many of those who plan to vote for Democrats in next month’s midterms.
Politico asked whether Democrat candidates should admit to voters that they intend to impeach Trump, even if doing so would hurt their prospects of winning, or hide their plans from the public in order to win.
As it turns out, those advocating deceit ended up in a virtual tie with those who supporting transparency:
“The Democratic candidate should say they plan to impeach Donald Trump, even if that makes it harder to win the election”: 43%
“The Democratic candidate should avoid saying they plan to impeach Donald Trump if it helps win the election, even if that means not making their view clear on the matter”: 41%
“Don’t know”: 15%
Young Democrat voters (18-24) largely favored openness over deception, 52%-37%. Results were reversed for the oldest (65+), with obfuscation topping honesty, 53%-24%
