President Donald Trump’s campaign has embraced Democratic-led efforts to impeach him as a major asset to his 2020 re-election campaign, betting that his supporters and disaffected political independents will be motivated to vote for him next November, Reuters writes.
But if the Republican president is hoping for a public backlash like the one against the 1998 impeachment of Democratic President Bill Clinton, it has so far not worked out that way, Reuters/Ipsos polling data over the past few months shows.
In fact, the House of Representatives’ impeachment investigation has fueled an equally fervent demand among Democrats to hold the Republican president accountable for his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden, according to a review of polls conducted every week since September 24 when the Ukraine scandal broke.
Trump is expected later this week to become the third U.S. president to be impeached when the full Democratic-led House votes on articles of impeachment charging him with abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress’ investigation of the matter.
That would set up a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate, which is unlikely to vote to remove him from office. Trump has denied wrongdoing and called the impeachment inquiry a hoax.
Since House Democrats launched the impeachment inquiry, the Trump campaign has sent talking points to Republican Party officials across the United States, trying to turn the crisis into a political advantage, according to aides and an internal campaign document seen by Reuters.
“Any time people try to lessen this legitimate president, in any way, his voters fight back,” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale told reporters on Thursday. The Republicans’ model looking forward could be the 1998 Clinton impeachment.
Gallup polling at the time showed that Clinton’s popularity grew in a bipartisan fashion during the House proceedings, peaking at 73% at the time of the impeachment vote.
Clinton, who was impeached for lying about a sexual relationship he had with a White House intern, emerged in a stronger political position after he was acquitted in a Senate trial in early 1999.
However, Americans are reacting much differently in 2019. Trump’s approval rating has hovered around 40% all year, changing little during the past three months. Furthermore, his support has been flat over the past several months among whites without a college degree – his core political base – and he was less popular in rural America in November than he was in June.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll also shows that Democrats are even more committed to impeaching Trump now than they were earlier this year and worry less about the impact it may have on the 2020 election.
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