As House Republicans expanded their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden by voting to formalize the probe, a new poll has found Americans are evenly divided on the effort as they head toward an election where both parties' candidates could have one — or two — impeachment trials on their records.
According to the NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist University poll released on Wednesday, 49% support the probe, while 48% oppose. Nearly a quarter of Democrats are in favor of the House GOP-led inquiry, while 20% of Republicans are not. Independents clocked in at 45% approving and 50% disapproving the impeachment process.
"Americans face a very unusual situation for next November, in that it may be a rematch between the current incumbent and a former president," Lee M. Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, said in a statement. "Toss into the equation that neither frontrunner is well-liked, and both could face an electorate with an impeachment on their political resume."
In a head-to-head 2024 matchup, 49% of respondents chose Biden, while 48% chose the Republican primary’s frontrunner: former President Donald Trump. But the poll, which surveyed 1,259 adults between Dec. 4-7, also found that neither man is particularly well-liked. Both men are viewed unfavorably by majorities, with 39% saying they held “very unfavorable” views of Biden and 45% holding the same view of Trump.
The House was set to vote on Wednesday to formalize the GOP-led impeachment probe into Biden and alleged connections to his family members’ business dealings. Biden’s team has continuously denied any wrongdoing and House Republicans have yet to produce substantive evidence of the president crossing ethical or legal lines.
“Joe Biden has repeatedly lied to the American people about his family’s corrupt influence peddling schemes,” Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said in a floor speech on Wednesday. Comer, as chair of the House Oversight Committee, is helping lead the impeachment probe. “Our investigation has revealed how Joe Biden knew of, participated in, and benefited from his family cashing in on the Biden name around the world.”
Ahead of the vote on Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee sent out an email to media members that listed “all of the evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden that House Republicans have to support their years of sham investigations.” The list was blank.
Instead, Biden and Democrats have argued, the investigation is being encouraged by Trump and his allies in an attempt to hurt the president as he seeks reelection next year.
“We are here today on the House floor, wasting time and taxpayer dollars on an illegitimate impeachment inquiry because Donald Trump, the puppetmaster, has directed extreme MAGA Republicans to launch a political hit job against President Joe Biden,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a floor speech on Wednesday. “The American people are tired of the partisanship, tired of the brinkmanship, tired of this effort to score political points on a partisan basis as opposed to actually making a difference.”
Republicans had long said a vote on the impeachment investigation was unnecessary but began to reconsider when White House lawyers used the lack of formal House authorization to argue that the entire investigation lacked “constitutional legitimacy.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.