The media has fallen head-over-heels for a new CNN “poll” conducted SSRS that says a full 51% of the American people support removing President Trump office as the Senate trial over his impeachment begins.
“The survey, which was released on Monday, a day before the Senate impeachment trial convenes, found that 51 percent of Americans are in support of the Senate voting to convict and remove Trump,” reports The Hill. “Forty-five percent of respondents said the Senate should vote against conviction and 4 percent said they had no opinion.”
According to CNN, the poll aligns with the Democratic agenda from almost every angle, with a full 69% of Americans in support of “testimony from new witnesses” in the Senate trial as Republicans split between 48% in favor and 44% not in favor.
Furthermore, the poll also shows that 58% of Americans agree that Trump abused his office to pressure Ukraine into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden’s alleged corruption in the country.
“Massive partisan gaps continue to dominate views on Trump and his impeachment trial,” continued CNN. “Overall, 89% of Democrats say he should be removed from office, while just 8% of Republicans feel the same way. Among independents, it’s nearly dead even: 48% say the Senate should vote to remove him, while 46% say that they should not.”
Predictably, anti-Trump media heads have been cheerleading the new CNN poll while Trump supporters have dismissed it as yet another piece of partisanship masquerading as objectivity.
“NEW: bad news for Trump- the majority of Americans say the Senate should remove him from office – 51% remove 45% not remove 7 in 10 say the Senate should call new witnesses,” tweeted author Amy Siskind.
NEW: bad news for Trump- the majority of Americans say the Senate should remove him from office –
51% remove
45% not remove7 in 10 say the Senate should call new witnesses. https://t.co/3NZZxqTLad
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) January 20, 2020
Here are just a few more reactions:
New impeachment poll — https://t.co/jQTXJrNmCZ
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 20, 2020
New CNN poll: 51% support removing Trump in the upcoming Senate trial. 45% oppose.
69% say the upcoming trial should feature testimony from new witnesses who did not testify in the House impeachment inquiry.https://t.co/MJucftvqtY
— andrew kaczynski🤔 (@KFILE) January 20, 2020
New CNN poll:
51% of Americans say Trump should be *removed.* Only 45% say he shouldn't
69% say Senate trial should feature new witnesses
58% say Trump abused his power
57% say he obstructed House impeachment inquiry
So, no, his lies aren't "working"https://t.co/YUXyEY8Bxk
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 20, 2020
The new poll comes on the heels of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) proposing new impeachment trial rules on Monday. CNN provided some more specifics:
The impeachment organizing resolution text from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gives House impeachment managers and the President’s legal team 24 hours each to make their opening arguments over two days.
The resolution raises the prospect that the trial will have 12-hour days and go late into the night, according to a copy of the resolution obtained by CNN.
The timing is a break from the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton when the 24 hours were split over a four-day period.
The Senate will debate and vote on the resolution setting the rules of the trial on Tuesday.
As the impeachment week kicked off on Monday, President Trump trolled the Democrats by sharing several statements they made during the Bill Clinton impeachment back in the late-’90s, and they were brutal.
“An impeachment of a president is an undoing of a national election — and one of the reasons we are so angry about what [the Republicans] are doing is they … are ripping asunder our votes, they are telling us our votes don’t count!” Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said at the time.
“Today the Republican majority is not judging the president with fairness, but impeaching him with a vengeance.” Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said. “In the investigation of the president, fundamental principles which Americans hold dear — privacy, fairness, checks and balances — have been seriously violated. And why? Because we are here today because Republicans in the House are paralyzed with hatred …”