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A survey published on Thursday by the Pew Research Center found that 54% of 3,487 adults polled currently approve of the House decision to pursue an impeachment inquiry into President Trump for his dealings with Ukraine.
Between the lines: This represents a subtle change since early September before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the inquiry.
- In the September survey — before details about Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were public and Pelosi announced the House inquiry — 50% said they favored the House launching impeachment proceedings, while the same share was opposed.
What they found: Pew's October report found that about 1 in 10 adults — or 9% of those surveyed — who previously opposed the inquiry now approve of it.
- Of those who resisted the inquiry as of last month, but now support it, 35% identify as Democrats, 26% lean Democratic, 21% are Republican-leaning, and just 10% identify as Republicans.
- The survey determined that neither party has a lot of confidence that their members of Congress will be “fair and reasonable,” during the impeachment inquiry.
The big picture: Support for impeachment has slowly grown since Pelosi announced the inquiry. However, House Democrats recently delayed a full vote authorizing an impeachment inquiry, according to Politico.
- Democratic leadership and a number of centrist Democrats who opposed the full House vote face tough reelection bids in the next cycle.
- At least 7 House Democrats continue to hold out or openly criticize the party for pursuing impeachment, and all represent districts that Trump won in the 2016 election.
The Pew survey was conducted Oct. 1-13 among 3,487 adults with a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points.
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