Less than 48 hours after the U.S. Senate voted to acquit former President Donald Trump on the charge of inciting an insurrection during his second impeachment trial, a majority of Americans say Senate Republicans made a mistake and should have convicted Trump, according to a new poll from ABC News/Ipsos:

“Fifty-eight percent of Americans believe Donald Trump should have been convicted by the Senate in his second impeachment trial, according to a new poll conducted afterward.

“The ABC News/Ipsos survey conducted February 13-14 also found that 77 percent of respondents believe the senators voted based on partisan politics, while just 23 percent said they felt they voted based on the facts before them.”

As expected, the breakdowns by party are telling:

  • 81 percent of Democrats believe Trump should have been convicted
  • Only 14 percent of Republicans think the evidence supported convicting the former president
  • 64 percent of those who consider them independents said Trump deserved to be convicted

Most believed the evidence presented by House impeachment managers was compelling:

“56 percent rated the evidence against Trump in the Senate trial as strong, compared to 37 percent who called it weak. The poll used a random national sample of 547 adults and has a 4.8 percentage points margin of sampling error.”

When Trump was acquitted last year after trying to extort the nation of Ukraine for dirt on President Joe Biden, polling showed a much closer split:

“49 percent of Americans said they approved of the Senate’s judgment versus 47 percent who disapproved, according to a Monmouth University poll.

“The Senate vote at the second impeachment was split 57-43 after seven Republicans joined with the Democrats to form a majority in favor of conviction. But it was still 10 short of the supermajority needed to achieve a conviction.”

Even though he was exonerated by the Senate, Trump still faces legal jeopardy everywhere he looks, including being indicted for the very same riot he allegedly incited on January 6.

Featured Image Via NBC News