“The survey did not include a question about respondents' support or opposition to an impeachment inquiry,” ABC News explained in a Sunday morning article about the results of their new ABC News/Ipsos poll on President Trump’s phone call with Ukraine. Despite not asking about their support for impeachment, chief anchor and Clinton lackey George Stephanopoulos appeared on Good Morning America and declared that support for impeachment among Americans was “climbing”.
“We want to get straight to the new developments in the whistleblower investigation that could threaten the Trump presidency, including new poll numbers showing how this story is playing with the American people,” co-anchor Whit Johnson enthusiastically announced at the start of the program, handing it off to co-anchor Dan Harris for some details.
While the headline of the online article was about how only 17 percent of people were surprised by the President’s actions, Harris hyped the poll for asking “whether Trump’s encouraging the president of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son is a serious problem, two-thirds of Americans saying yes, it is.”
A few minutes later, following a report from correspondent David Wright, Harris was speaking with Stephanopoulos and wanted to address the new poll and if it was good for Democrats:
I want to take another look at the new ABC News/Ipsos poll. It says 63 percent, if you add it up, say that Trump urging the Ukrainian president to investigate the Biden's is a serious problem. Is that a solid enough majority for the Democrats moving forward?
“I think what’s interesting is the direction there, the number of American who think it’s a serious problem and the number of Americans who support impeachment or at least impeachment proceedings appears to be climbing in the wake of these Ukraine revelations,” Stephanopoulos declared with no evidence.
So far, every poll asking about impeachment has returned results unfavorable to Democrats and the liberal media; with a majority opposing impeachment. But that didn’t stop the Clinton lackey from embellishing any way:
And they're already higher than they've been at this stage for past impeachment proceedings. The proceedings against Bill Clinton 20 years ago, against Richard Nixon, both started out with minority support for impeachment; it climbed as the investigations continued and this investigation is just beginning.
Harris followed up with a serious question about the Democrats’ lack of evidence for their assertions. “If they cannot prove a quid pro quo, in other words if they can't prove the President explicitly said to the Ukrainians, “Look, I'm not going to give you military aid unless you investigate the Bidens,” does that weaken their case significantly,” he wondered.
Stephanopoulos responded by arguing that the Democrats didn’t need to have explicit evidence:
I think it's unlikely you're going to find something that explicit. But, it's not necessary in the eyes of Democrats in order to proceed with impeachment because they say it's an inherently unequal relationship. The United States -- Ukraine needs the United States for military aid to protect against Russia, to help reform their system. If the President is making these requests there's an implicit quid pro quo there because of the unequal relationship.
Beyond claiming the poll showed something it didn’t ask about, ABC’s poll also had a margin of error of 4.8 percent, which exceeded the standard (2.5%) for it to be considered reliable.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s Good Morning America
September 29, 2019
8:01:52 a.m. EasternWHIT JOHNSON: And good Sunday morning, everybody. It’s great to have you with us. We want to get straight to the new developments in the whistleblower investigation that could threaten the Trump presidency, including new poll numbers showing how this story is playing with the American people.
DAN HARRIS: Yeah, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll asking whether Trump’s encouraging the president of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son is a serious problem, two-thirds of Americans saying yes, it is.
(…)
8:05:39 a.m. Eastern
HARRIS: Let's bring in George Stephanopoulos who is going to be hosting This Week, later this morning. Good morning.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning, guys.
HARRIS: So, we want to talk about The Washington Post headline in a second. But, let's first start with Nancy Pelosi. She-- You heard her there acknowledging that there's political risk here. I want to take another look at the new ABC News/Ipsos poll. It says 63 percent, if you add it up, say that Trump urging the Ukrainian president to investigate the Biden's is a serious problem. Is that a solid enough majority for the Democrats moving forward?
STEPHANOPOULOS: I think what’s interesting is the direction there, the number of American who think it’s a serious problem and the number of Americans who support impeachment or at least impeachment proceedings appears to be climbing in the wake of these Ukraine revelations. And they're already higher than they've been at this stage for past impeachment proceedings. The proceedings against Bill Clinton 20 years ago, against Richard Nixon, both started out with minority support for impeachment; it climbed as the investigations continued and this investigation is just beginning.
HARRIS: Alright. So, let me ask another question that’s sort of looming over this for the Democrats. If they cannot prove a quid pro quo, in other words if they can't prove the President explicitly said to the Ukrainians, “Look, I'm not going to give you military aid unless you investigate the Bidens,” does that weaken their case significantly?
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me turn it around. If you find a document or tape or a credible testimony that the President did indeed say, “you're not getting the aid unless you investigate,” that's a smoking gun on the equivalent on the tape that brought down Richard Nixon.
I think it's unlikely you're going to find something that explicit. But, it's not necessary in the eyes of Democrats in order to proceed with impeachment because they say it's an inherently unequal relationship. The United States -- Ukraine needs the United States for military aid to protect against Russia, to help reform their system. If the President is making these requests there's an implicit quid pro quo there because of the unequal relationship.
(…)
