A recent Public Policy Polling poll found 46% in favor of the House calling up the current president on formal charges, a number that Richard Nixon didn’t see, according to historian Kevin M. Kruse, until 16 months into the Watergate crisis.
In contrast, only 35% of Americans backed the actual impeachment of Bill Clinton, in the days after the House had passed two charges against him.
Incidentally, a campaign to impeach President Donald Trump now has more than 650,000 signatures.
The online petition, which is spearheaded by two nonprofit advocacy groups, Free Speech for People and RootsAction, was created the day of President Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The campaign said that as of noon on February 7, its petition had 655,363 signatures.
President Trump has issued a number of controversial executive orders, including an immigration ban against people from seven Muslim-majority countries that was temporarily blocked by a federal judge on February 3.
His approval rating is at a historic low, but the commander-in-chief can’t be impeached merely because he is disliked, reports Time.
Congress would have to find him guilty of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Recognizing those prerequisites, the impeachment campaign’s main argument centers on Trump’s unprecedented conflicts of interest.
The organizers are asking supporters to sign the petition in order to convince Congress to investigate grounds for the President’s impeachment. The campaign site promises to continue periodically updating the signature count as it grows.