More Americans are for impeaching Donald Trump than against it, poll finds

Impact

Donald Trump has weathered a lot of political storms — but a new poll suggests that Americans are increasingly fed up with the president and want him impeached.

According to a Public Policy Polling report released Tuesday, 48% of Americans support impeaching Trump compared to 41% who are against it. 

Trump's opponents have been calling for his impeachment since before he even took office. But after firing former FBI Director James Comey, who was investigating his campaign's alleged ties to Russia, and reportedly revealing classified intelligence to Russian officials last week, those calls have grown increasingly loud.

Laurence Tribe, a professor of constitutional law at Harvard University, wrote in the Washington Post on Saturday that Comey's termination represents obstruction of justice on the part of Trump and that he must be removed from office.

"The time has come for Congress to launch an impeachment investigation of President Trump for obstruction of justice," Tribe wrote. "To wait for the results of the multiple investigations underway is to risk tying our nation's fate to the whims of an authoritarian leader."

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) added his voice to the chorus in a statement Monday, calling for the House of Representatives to introduce impeachment proceedings against the president for axing Comey.

"President Trump is not above the law," Green said. "He has committed an impeachable act and must be charged. To do otherwise would cause some Americans to lose respect for, and obedience to, our societal norms."

According to the Public Policy Polling report, 48% of Americans disagreed with Trump's decision to fire Comey, against 37% who agreed — and more than half don't buy the president's official reasoning for canning the FBI director.

The firing led American University professor Allan Lichtman, who correctly forecasted Trump's election and also predicted he'd be impeached, to say the president could "arguably be impeached now." Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) tweeted that the firing moved Trump's so-called impeachment clock "an hour closer to midnight."

Following the Post's explosive report on Monday, Republican strategist Ana Navarro said that Republicans would have impeached Hillary Clinton had she been elected president and divulged "code-word information" to the Russians.

Speaking of Clinton, Americans seem to be having some buyer's remorse about the 2016 election, according to Public Policy Polling. The poll found that 49% of Americans wish Clinton was president instead of Trump, compared to 41% who do not. Even more wish Barack Obama was still in office. 

Turns out, most voters don't think Trump has been able to "make America great again," according to the report. While 34% think he's returning the country to its previous greatness, 55% don't. And that, the poll suggests, could hurt Republicans in 2018 and Trump in 2020 — if he makes it that far.

According to the poll, just 43% think Trump will be able to complete his first term in office, while 45% believe he won't.