New Poll Shows How Many Americans Support Banning Trump from Office

There seem to be three different forces at work in the coming impeachment trial of Donald Trump, and few of them appear to share motives or goals.

First, there are the Senate Republicans who appear more than ready to acquit Trump yet again.  Sure, there are some notable exceptions to this, but there also appears to be very little sweating over the predicted results, either.

Then there are Trump’s legal team, (newly installed), who are certain enough that their client will be acquitted that they’ve begun to formulate an alternative use for the trial:  Combatting the results of the 2020 election all over again.

Last, and maybe least, are the Democrats who believe that Trump should not only be convicted of “inciting an insurrection”, but also that he should be barred from ever holding public office again.

A new poll purports to show the potential popularity of such a move.

With his impeachment trial set to begin this week, a narrow majority of Americans say they support the Senate convicting former President Donald Trump and barring him from holding federal office again, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday.

Compared to public attitudes in the early days of his first impeachment trial, support for the Senate convicting Trump is higher now. In an ABC News/Washington Post poll published in late January 2020, when the first trial was ongoing but before senators had voted, 47% of Americans said the Senate should vote to remove Trump from office and 49% said he should not be removed.

But in this latest poll, 56% of Americans say Trump should be convicted and barred from holding office again, and 43% say he should not be. The new poll was conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.

The prevailing belief is that the Senate will acquit Trump handily, as occurred during his first impeachment trial.