A shocking new Gallup poll shows 52% of Americans support the removal of Donald Trump as president after impeachment.
It is the first time that the respected pollsters have registered a majority of Americans supporting the removal of a president since August 1974, when 58% supported the removal of Richard Nixon.
Nixon stepped down as president four days later when it became clear he would be impeached by the House of Representatives.
In contrast, the Gallup data shows support for the removal of Bill Clinton as president peaked at just 35% in September 1998 in the months leading up to his impeachment trial.
Gallup found that 52% of national adults support the impeachment and removal of Trump as president in the poll this month – up from 45% in June.
On the other side, 46% are opposed to his impeachment and removal – down from 53% in June.
But support for impeaching and removing Trump remains split along party lines.
While 89% of Democrats, and 55% of independents support his removal, just 6% of Republicans agree.
The news came just a week after Fox News published a poll finding that 51% of Americans agreed that Trump should be impeached and removed from office, a nine-point jump from the most recent survey on July 19.
Gallup measured public support for impeachment and removal of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton during their presidencies.
Nixon resigned from office when it was clear the House would vote to impeach him, while Clinton was impeached by the House, but the Senate voted to keep him in office.
The level of support for Trump being impeached and removed is well above where it was for Clinton, and higher than it was for Nixon in all but the final poll before he resigned.
Support for impeachment and removal of both former presidents was 19% in Gallup’s initial reading for each.
Americans’ support for Clinton’s impeachment and removal did grow from there but never came close to majority level, maxing out at 35% in the months before the Republican-led House voted to impeach him.
By contrast, public support for Nixon’s impeachment and removal from office swelled over the course of a year as revelations of his wrongdoings continued.
By the time the House was prepared to impeach Nixon, a majority of Americans favored impeachment and removal.
The 58% Gallup found in late August 1974 was triple the initial level of support recorded in June 1973.
Support for Trump’s impeachment is higher because of the near-universal support for impeaching him among Democrats, perhaps to some degree a reflection of today’s hyper-partisan environment.
More Democrats now favor Trump being removed from office than did for Nixon in July 1974 (71%).
As many independents now favor Trump being impeached as did Nixon at the same time.
But far fewer Republicans want Trump to be removed than wanted Nixon to be (31%).