Poll: Impeachment May Actually Be Helping Trump’s Approval Rating

President Donald Trump poses for photos as he meets with Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Benitez at the White House, in Washington on Friday, Dec. 13, 2019. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

A survey from longtime pollster Gallup revealed that President Donald Trump’s approval rating has risen while support for impeachment has dropped over the past several weeks.

The poll, released Wednesday, showed that Trump’s approval rating increased by six points to 45 percent from October to mid-December. Impeachment support, meanwhile, has dropped to 46 percent, with 51 percent oppose impeaching and removing the president from office.

Another Wednesday poll from Rasmussen said that Trump has a 49-percent approval rating.

Over the past several weeks amid the inquiry, Trump has pointed to the polls. He said via Twitter on Friday: “Poll numbers have gone through the roof in favor of No Impeachment.”

“The president’s ratings have increased six percentage points since the House of Representatives opened an impeachment inquiry against him in the fall,” according to Gallup. “Approval of the president’s performance remains high among Republicans (89 percent) and low among Democrats (8 percent),” it added.

Gallup also noted that among independents, Trump’s approval rating is up by eight points after several months of impeachment inquiry procedures. Less than half of independents, or 48 percent, support impeachment, the poll also found.

Recent surveys from Quinnipiac University, PBS/NPR/Marist, Gallup, and USA Today/Suffolk University show that a majority of independents are opposed to impeachment.

Tom Bevan, the president and co-founder of the political poll data aggregator RealClearPolitics (RCP), made the assertion on Monday morning and included a screenshot of the “RCP average” that shows that 47 percent of Americans are opposed to removing Trump while 46 percent are in favor.

USA Today, in a writeup of its most recent poll, reported that Americans were split on impeachment 47 percent to 46 percent in a survey in October.

“In the poll, sentiments divided along predictable partisan lines. Republicans by an overwhelming 89 percent-9 percent oppose a Senate vote that would remove Trump from office; Democrats by 81 percent-15 percent support it. Independents by 52 percent-41 percent oppose it,” wrote USA Today in an analysis.

The Marist poll, meanwhile, discovered that despite weeks of public hearings, “Americans’ views of impeachment are split and largely unchanged,” NPR wrote.

“It’s like the hearings have never happened,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, according to the broadcaster.“The arguments have only served to reinforce existing views, and everyone is rooting for their side.”

The Marist poll, commissioned between Dec. 9 and Dec. 11, showed 48 percent of national adults opposed impeachment and 47 supported it, while the Suffolk survey, carried out between Dec. 10 and Dec. 14, revealed that 50 percent oppose the measure and 45 percent support it.