Democrats and their media allies have tried to claim that their attempt to impeach President Donald Trump is a “somber,” non-partisan affair they take no pleasure from.
Of course, that has been a lie from the beginning, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) having to tell her fellow Democrats to wear black and look serious when they voted in favor of articles of impeachment, even though multiple members couldn’t hide their smiles. Then there was the dramatic and theatrical performance of Democrats walking the articles of impeachment over to the Senate while trying to keep from laughing.
Now comes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is sharing positive poll results behind closed doors in Democratic caucus meetings, The Hill reported.
“Schumer touted polling at a closed-door Democratic caucus meeting Thursday that he said showed public opinion is moving toward the party since the start of the impeachment trial,” the outlet reported. “The Democratic leader emphasized that the percentage of Americans who favor subpoenaing additional witnesses and evidence for the trial continues to tick above 70 percent and that over 50 percent support removing Trump from office, according to lawmakers familiar with the meeting.”
By the end of the week, Schumer was publicly touting polls allegedly showing the American people wanted exactly what he claims to want in the Senate impeachment trial.
“Every day the poll numbers, which were high to begin with, go further. Even a majority of Republicans believe there ought to be witnesses and documents,” Schumer said Friday, though he didn’t say which polls showed what he claimed.
He added: “It’s overwhelming on witnesses and documents, among Democrats, Republicans and independents. Overwhelming, private and public.”
The Hill listed a number of polls that backed up Schumer’s claims (though without context the answers are pretty meaningless in most polls):
An Emerson College poll conducted over the first three days of the trial showed that 51 percent of more than 1,100 registered voters across the country supported removing Trump from office.
It also showed a strong majority, 58 percent, want the Senate to call witnesses as part of its trial.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll released Friday showed that 66 percent of 1,000 adults nationwide think the Senate should call new witnesses at the trial while only 27 percent said it shouldn’t.
But the poll also found more people think Trump should not be removed from office than those who think he should be convicted and removed.
Forty-seven percent of respondents said the Senate should vote to remove Trump from office while 49 percent said it shouldn’t. The survey was conducted from Jan. 20 to Jan. 23, overlapping with the first three days of the trial.
Democrats suggested people watching the impeachment trial in the senate would be convinced of Trump’s guilt, yet viewership for the trial is incredibly low. The Washington Examiner reported that viewership on the second day of the trial dropped by one-fifth, bringing in just 8.9 million viewers during prime time, which is lower than the average viewership for “Jeopardy.” Thursday night’s viewership dropped to 7.8 million viewers, representing a 29% drop since Tuesday, according to Reuters.