With an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in full swing, Americans are divided on whether or not the president should remain in the Oval Office.
A new survey of 1,500 undergraduates finds that about half (54%) believe that President Trump should be impeached and removed from office. Students’ feelings on the subject have not changed since early October (55%), less than two weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House of Representatives would formally conduct an impeachment investigation. Students’ views are almost on par with the rest of the country, as FiveThirtyEight finds that 47% of Americans say the 45th president should be impeached.
Students’ views differ across lines of political leaning, gender, and race, however. College Democrats are far more likely than college Republicans to say President Trump should be impeached (82% vs. 9%), according to our latest survey. Female students are significantly more likely than male students to say the president should be removed from office (60% vs. 45%). And Hispanic students are more likely than students overall to say so (67% vs. 54%).
College Students are Slightly More Likely Than Americans Overall to Support Impeachment
Percent of people who say President Trump should be impeached and removed from office.
Students’ support for impeachment has risen slightly since October 2018, when 47% of students overall said President Trump should be impeached and removed from office. Over the past year, support for impeachment has primarily increased among Democrats and male students. Democrats were still far more likely than Republicans to say President Trump should be impeached last year (71% vs. 6%), and female students were also more likely than male students to agree (57% vs. 34%). But support among both Democrats and male students has risen by 11 points since last October.
Despite half of students believing President Trump should be impeached, a majority (61%) do not think it is likely to actually happen. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say impeachment is not likely (87% vs. 47%), according to the latest survey. But even students who say the president should be removed are not optimistic that it will come to fruition. Almost half (46%) of students who say the president should be impeached also say it is not likely.
Few College Republicans Think Trump Will be Impeached
How likely do you think it is that President Trump will be impeached and removed from office?
President Trump does not have much support from college students in general. Almost 6 in 10 (58%) students say they would vote for the Democratic candidate if the 2020 election were held today, while 19% say they would vote for President Trump and 7% say they would not vote. Among college Republicans, about 7 in 10 (71%) say they would vote for President Trump, while 8% say they would vote for the Democratic nominee.
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Methodology: This survey was designed and conducted by College Pulse. Interviews were conducted among a sample of 1,500 full-time and part-time students attending four-year colleges or universities in the U.S. who are part of College Pulse’s American College Student Panel.
