Amid Senate Trial, Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Hits The Best Of His Presidency, Says Poll
As the Senate impeachment trial comes to an end and Donald Trump‘s acquittal appears to be all but certain, a new Gallup poll puts the president’s approval rating at the highest of his first term.
According to the pollster, Trump’s approval rating is now at 49 percent, the highest since he took office in 2017 and one percent higher than his personal best of 46 percent. Breitbart reports that the increase is a 10-point boost since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment probe into his Ukraine foreign policy in October.
The poll finds that 50 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump, and one percent holds no opinion. The second number is a decrease from the average percentage of five percent that hold no opinion that has been observed throughout Trump’s presidency.
When looking at the partisan divide, Trump’s approval rating among Republicans is up six percentage points from early January to 94 percent. On the other side of the spectrum, his approval among Democrats is seven percent, which is a decrease from 10 percent. Among independents, the president’s approval rating has increased by five points to 42 percent.
“The 87-point gap between Republican and Democratic approval in the current poll is the largest Gallup has measured in any Gallup poll to date, surpassing the prior record, held by Trump and Barack Obama, by one point,” Gallup writes.
The recent poll was conducted from January 16 to 29 amid the Senate impeachment trial. According to Gallup, 52 percent of Americans support Trump’s acquittal, and 46 percent are in favor of removing him from office.
Trump’s RCP job approval today hit its highest level since just after his Inauguration, a three-year high. Since impeachment began in October, his net disapproval has been cut in half, from -13.4 to -6.1 today. pic.twitter.com/7nl6xM6v1r
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) January 28, 2020
Per The Hill, the Senate is set to vote on the two articles of impeachment against Trump on Wednesday. Although the president’s acquittal is likely, some experts and historians are reportedly unsure how such a move will impact the future of American politics.
James Robenalt, an attorney and the creator of a continuing legal education class on Watergate, believes the acquittal could alter the standard for impeachable conduct.
“Everyone understood that acquittal was inevitable, but few expected the president’s lawyers to argue for so sweeping a standard for impeachable conduct as they did.”
High-profile attorney Alan Dershowitz acted as one of Trump’s impeachment defense lawyers and drew criticism for his argument that Trump’s alleged quid pro quo with Ukraine was not impeachable because it was in the public interest. He also argued against the legal consensus and said that impeachment requires a crime, which received pushback from Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano and attorney and Michigan Rep. Justin Amash.
