Only 33% of Americans agree with Trump's acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial
- 33% of surveyed American adults agreed on some level with President Donald Trump's acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial, according to a new Insider poll.
- 44% disagreed with Trump's acquittal on some level.
- Trump was impeached in December over his dealings with Ukraine, but acquitted in the GOP-controlled Senate in early February.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Roughly one-in-three surveyed Americans agree with the Senate's vote to acquit President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment, a new Insider poll found.
Meanwhile, roughly 44% disagreed with Trump's acquittal on some level, and said they supported the president's removal from office.
Poll participants were asked: "This past week, the US Senate acquitted President Trump on two charges of impeachment. What is your view about this?"
Here's what Americans said about Trump's acquittal at the end of his Senate impeachment trial, according to the poll's findings:
- A little over 33% said "I strongly disagree, I supported removal."
- Nearly 11% said "I disagree, I supported removal."
- About 14% said "I neither agree nor disagree" with Trump's acquittal.
- About 11% said "I agree, I supported acquittal."
- And 22% said "I strongly agree, I supported acquittal."
- Meanwhile, a little less than 8% said "I don't know."
Trump was impeached in the House on December 18, 2019. The House approved two articles of impeachment against Trump, one for abuse of power over his dealings with Ukraine and a second for obstruction of Congress linked to his efforts to stonewall the impeachment inquiry.
The impeached proceedings spiraled out of a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call, Trump urged Zelensky to launch investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, as well as a debunked conspiracy that Ukraine, and not Russia, interfered in the 2016 election.
Trump wanted Zelensky to open an inquiry into the Bidens in relation to Hunter's work for a Ukrainian natural gas company, Burisma Holdings, while the former vice president was the Obama administration's point man on Ukraine matters. But there's no evidence of wrongdoing or illegal activity on the part of either Biden.
The effort to urge Ukraine into launching investigations went well beyond the July 25 phone call and the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was intricately involved. Much of this pressure campaign also occurred in concert with a freeze on nearly $400 million in congressionally-approved military aid to Ukraine.
Though Trump denied any connection between the aid freeze and the request for investigations, impeachment witnesses testified to the contrary and the administration's justifications for the hold have been inconsistent and nebulous.
Democrats essentially accused Trump of attempting to use the military aid to blackmail Ukraine, which is in the midst of a war against pro-Russian separatists, into digging up dirt on his political rivals as the president sought reelection. Biden is a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
SurveyMonkey Audience polls from a national sample balanced by census data of age and gender. Respondents are incentivized to complete surveys through charitable contributions. Generally speaking, digital polling tends to skew toward people with access to the internet. SurveyMonkey Audience doesn't try to weigh its sample based on race or income. A total of 1,083 respondents were collected January 22, 2020, a margin of error plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.