Poll: Majority of Kentuckians against convicting Trump in impeachment trial
A majority of Kentuckians do not support convicting former President Donald Trump of “incitement of insurrection” in the U.S. Senate’s impeachment trial, according to a new poll.
The survey of 625 registered voters in Kentucky, conducted by Mason Dixon polling by phone, found that 51 percent of Kentuckians opposed convicting Trump, 41 percent supported conviction and 8 percent were undecided. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent and was conducted between February 1 and February 4.
The U.S. Senate began hearing the arguments in the impeachment trial earlier this week as members weigh whether to convict Trump of inciting a mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, delaying the certification of November’s election. Lawyers for the former President have argued that the Senate cannot impeach a president after he has left office, while the House Impeachment Managers have said Trump should be held accountable for the events of January 6.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has not yet said how he will vote, while U.S. Sen. Rand Paul has said he will vote no.
McConnell signaled in December that he might be open to convicting Trump, but in the weeks since has voted twice in support of motions that argued the trial should be dismissed because a former president cannot be impeached. One of those motions was brought forward by Paul.
McConnell, however, directly blamed Trump for inciting the riot in a floor speech last month, drawing criticism from Republican county officials across Kentucky. At least seven county chapters of the Kentucky Republican Party have voted to censure McConnell even though a vote to force the sentor to support Trump in the trial overwhelmingly failed in a special meeting of the party’s state central committee.
That would match up with the poll, which found that 86 percent of Republicans oppose convicting Trump while 11 percent support his conviction compared to 69 percent of Democrats who support convicting the former president. Among independents, 61 percent opposed convicting Trump compared to 29 percent who supported conviction.
The poll also found that 49 percent of Kentuckians disapproved of President Joe Biden’s job performance, while 39 percent approved and 12 percent were not sure.
