A new poll on Friday found that more Americans are tuning out the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, and the drop-off has some Democrats questioning the party’s 2020 viability.
The poll found that interest in the inquiry has dropped to 62 percent, from 70 percent in early November.
“Seventy-one percent of Democrats said they are following the impeachment inquiry, compared with 78 percent in early November. The number of GOP voters who said the same plummeted 10 points to 60 percent,” The Hill reported.
In recent days, an increasing number of Democrats have voiced concern about how impeachment isn’t playing well with their constituents.
Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said that his voters are more interested in issues that affect them directly rather than the inquiry against President Trump.
“Mostly, I hear that they want us to work on issues like the prescription drug prices, trade, and the economy,” Kildee on Dec. 5.
“They do offer their thoughts on this and I think that’s positive, but mostly the American people want us to work on the issues that affect them at the kitchen table everyday,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) was heckled and booed by some of her constituents during a town hall meeting after she spoke about impeaching the president.
“Myself and six other members of the freshman class in Congress, all former military or former CIA, wrote a joint op-ed and came out in support of an impeachment inquiry,” Slotkin the town hall as several members of the audience voiced their angst.
“And I wanted you to know from me—I wanted you to know from me.”
Also, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.) told USA Today this month that while he’s no fan of the president, he has not seen any evidence that Trump has committed impeachable offenses.
Van Drew, 66, was also quick to note that in all of the country’s history, no president has been ‘convicted’ of impeachable offenses by the Senate and removed from office.
To have a “small, elite group” of lawmakers attempt to remove a president less than a year before an election is indefensible and un-American, Van Drew told the paper.
“To some folks, that’s reminiscent of what was done to kings and queens many years ago,” Van Drew said. “Everything our country doesn’t stand for.”
Van Drew and longtime Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, were the only two Democrats to oppose the only procedural vote on impeachment held by the House thus far.
No Republicans thus far have supported impeaching the president.