Reality Check: How Much Do Voters Really Care About Impeachment?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The U.S. House is expected to vote before the end of the year on whether to impeach President Trump.
Both sides are in a political fight over how much voters care. Now, a far-reaching study of voters shows impeachment is a very high priority to Democrats and Republicans alike.
To hear President Trump tell it: America cares more about other issues than impeachment.
"Flimsy, pathetic, ridiculous articles of impeachment," the President told a Pennsylvania rally Tuesday night.
It's not exactly wrong, but it's not right, either.
That's according to one of the largest public opinion surveys ever undertaken, revealing an America that is paying very close attention to impeachment.
The poll is a partnership between the Democracy Fund and the UCLA to survey half a million people before the 2020 election. In nearly every county and every congressional district in America -- measuring issues voters care about most.
It's almost like ranked-choice voting, a scientific sample of 6,000 Americans a week.
They are asked to pick from groups of issues, over and over, until the most important ones rise to the top. One might be a $15 wage, the Green New Deal and impeachment.
Another could include immigration, abortion, guns, or Medicare for All.
Sorting out less important issues and leaving in the ones that mean the most.
At the top of the Republican list: impeachment.
More accurately, don't impeach. After that, don't ban guns.
For Democrats, impeachment ranks number 2.
At the top:
- Don't separate immigrant children
- Impeach Trump
The President telling rally-goers that since impeachment proceedings began against him, led by Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "our poll numbers have gone through the roof because of her stupid impeachment!"
But the question of how important impeachment is, is different from whether voters think the President should be impeached.
Right now, 48.1% of Americans say the President should be impeached, while 44.8% say he should not.
That's Reality Check.
Here are some of the sources we used for this reality check:
