Trump Impeachment: Narrow Majority Of Voters Approves Of House Vote, Shows New Poll

A little more than half of American voters approve of the impeachemnet of President Donald Trump by the House of Representatives, a new poll has found.

The Politico/Morning Consult poll showed 52% approve the impeachment vote, against 43% who disapprove; 5% voters have no opinion.

The poll was conducted Dec.19-20, soon after Congress passed two articles of impeachment. The articles now have to be sent to the Senate, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi has held them back, citing concerns of a fair trial in that chamber.

Voter opinion on removing Trump from office also shows similar support, with 52% saying they would support the Senate voting to convict the President and 42% saying they would disapprove.

With Republicans, who control the Senate 53 to 47, showing no signs of breaking away from support for Trump, the President is expected to be acquited in the Senate trial. It would require 67 senators to convict and remove the president.

The poll shows the historic House vote -- Trump becoming only the third President in U.S. history to face a Senate trial -- as well as the saturation media coverage of the testimonies of witnesses during the earlier public hearings, have failed to convince significantly more American voters to support impeachment.

With the outcome of a Senate trial almost predetermined, both the parties had choreographed their efforts with the aim to convince voters of their positions. The stakes are high -- vulnerabale Congressional Democrats fear impeachment would affect their reelection chances in 2020.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll held just before the House prepared to vote on the two articles of impeachment showed American adults were evenly split over the move: 48% in favor and 48% against.

Despite the seriousness of the accusations against him -- pressuring Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic front runner candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, by withholding foreign aid -- Trump probably is benefiting from a resilient economy.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He's labeled the impeachment inquiry a hoax and an effort by Democrats to overturn the results of the 2016 election.

The U.S. economy grew 2.1% in the third quarter, the government confirmed Friday, and support from a strong labor market is expected to have helped the economy maintain the moderate expansion pace into the year end.

A CNBC All-America Economic poll released Wedensday showed 49% of Americans approve of Trump's handling of economy. A Gallup poll released early Wednesday found Trump’s approval rating at 45%, up from 39% when the inquiry was launched in the fall, The Hill reported.

That aspect was highligted by tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, one of the seven top Democrats running to replace Trump. During Thursday's Democratic debate, Yang blasted his party for being "obsessed" with Trump's impeachment, saying they were ignoring the broader economic forces that led to Trump's reelection, The Hill reported.

“Congress’s approval is at 17 percent and Americans don’t trust the media networks to tell them the truth,” Yang said. “The media didn’t do us any favors by missing why Trump became president in the first place … you’d think he’s president due to some combination of Russia, racism, Facebook, Hillary Clinton and emails all mixed together.”

“But Americans know different,” he continued, reported The Hill. “We blasted away 4 million manufacturing jobs primarily based in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Missouri. I just left Iowa where we blasted 40,000 manufacturing jobs. The more we act like Trump is the cause of all our problems, the more Americans lose trust that we can address their concerns.”

The support for the House's impeachment vote in the Politico/Morning Consult poll fell on predictable party lines. 85% of Democrats approved of the vote and 12 percent disapproved; 81% Republicans disapproved and 16 percent approved the vote.

Nearly half of independents, or 48%, approved the impeachment vote and 41% disapproved, again showing the high profile impeachment hearings and vote have not helped sway public opinion much outside of party lines.

The start date for the Senate trial is unclear as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) continue to spar over critical details of the trial.