President Donald Trump’s job approval rating is up six percentage points since the House Democrats launched their impeachment inquiry, according to a Gallup poll released early Wednesday.
The survey found the president’s approval rating climbed to 45 percent from 39 percent, from when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) formally launched the probe to remove him in late September. The findings mark the third consecutive rise in his approval rating and the fifth time his approval has hit 45 percent in his presidency, according to Gallup.
President Trump enjoys widespread support among Republicans — 9 in 10 respondents or 89 percent — while eight percent of Democrats said they approve of his performance.
The survey found a majority of respondents — 51 percent — are against the impeachment and removal of the president, an uptick of five percent since the inquiry was launched. Conversely, 46 percent of respondents stated they approve of impeachment and his removal, a drop of six points. A mere five percent of Republican respondents said they support impeachment and removal. Eighty-five percent of Democrat respondents said they supported the two actions. Further, Gallup found impeachment support has dropped with independents to 48 percent, down from 55 in October.
The survey, which was taken with 1,0125 adults, was conducted between December 2nd-15th and possesses a margin of error of four percentage points.
The poll’s releases comes hours before the House of Representatives votes on impeachment, where the Democrat-controlled lower chamber is expected to approve two articles to remove the president — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The proceedings were prompted by a partisan CIA analyst’s whistleblower complaint, in which it was alleged President Trump sought to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate allegations of corruption against former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. Both world leaders have repeatedly denied the accusations and the White House released a transcript of their July 25 telephone call as evidence that no wrongdoing occurred during the conversation.