Poll: Public opinion is split on impeachment after hearings

A poll conducted by SSRS for CNN shows that public opinion on President Trump's impeachment is split and remains unchanged from October.

Why it matters: Only half of the 1,007 respondents said they believe Trump should be impeached and removed from office over his handling of military aid to Ukraine and 43% said he should not, despite five days of public hearings in House Democrats' impeachment inquiry.

• The findings on overall opinion of impeachment are identical to CNN's October poll conducted by SSRS before the public hearings.

By the numbers:

• 53% said the president improperly used his office to gain political advantage over a potential 2020 opponent, and 42% said he did not
• 48% of respondents said there is enough evidence to impeach Trump, while 47% said there is not.
• 52% said House Democrats are expressing their constitutional powers in the impeachment inquiry. 40% said Democrats have abused their constitutional powers by pursuing impeachment.
• A third (33%) of the respondents said they believe congressional Republicans are defending Trump too much. 41% approved of Republicans' defense of the president, while 17% percent said they are not defending him enough.
• President Trump's approval rating has slightly grown since CNN's October poll, with 42% approving of his work and 54% disapproving.

Of note: More than 60% of the women in the poll said they back impeaching Trump and removing him from office, up from 56% in the October poll.

Methodology: This poll was conducted over Nov. 21-24 among a sample of 1,007 respondents and has a margin of error of +/- 3.7.

Go deeper:

• What's next for impeachment
• Schiff: Ukraine report will be sent to Judiciary Committee after Thanksgiving
• Schiff: I would be leading calls for impeachment if Trump were a Democrat