Roughly half of Americans believe the Senate should vote to convict former President Donald Trump for what Democrats say was his role in inciting a mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
A new Marist poll released on Monday finds that 50% of Americans believe the Senate should vote to convict Trump on the charge of “incitement of insurrection.” Meanwhile, 41% of respondents said Trump should be acquitted.
The Senate is scheduled to begin its trial the week of February 9, just over one year after the chamber voted to acquit on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Democrats have pointed to Trump’s comments at a rally shortly before a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol where he said, “We’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you… We are going to the Capitol.”
He also claimed they would “try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”
Some Republican lawmakers have also blamed Trump for the violence. However, they have argued that his actions may not warrant impeachment and conviction after he has left office.
Support for conviction breakdowns down along party lines according to the new Marist poll, with 90% of Democrats saying Trump should be convicted and just 5% saying he should be acquitted.
Meanwhile, 90% of Republicans say Trump should be acquitted, and just 5% say he should be convicted.
The divide is a little less stark among independents with 39% saying he should be acquitted and 49% saying he should be convicted.
A separate Monmouth University poll found that 56% of Americans approved of House Democrats’ push to impeach Trump, while 53% said they believe he should be convicted.
The Marist poll surveyed 1,313 and was conducted January 24 through January 27.