Trump impeachment congress Leahy
© Associated PressSen. Patrick Leahy, the president pro tempore of the Senate, who is presiding over the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump swears in members of the Senate for the impeachment trial at the US Capitol on Jan. 26, 2021.
More than half of likely voters say in a new poll that former President Trump being tried in the Senate over his House impeachment would further divide an already politically-torn nation.

The survey, released Monday by Rasmussen Reports, found that by a 3-to-1 margin, voters expect the upcoming Senate trial of the ex-commander-in-chief to leave the country more divided than unified.

Just 19 percent of those polled said the trial would help unify Americans, while 20 percent said there would be no difference.

Reached by telephone or online, 50 percent of likely voters also said that the Senate should not convict the former president of "high crimes and misdemeanors" when it convenes for the trial the week of Feb. 8.

Forty-five percent of those polled, meanwhile, said that Trump should be convicted in the upper house of Congress.

Pelosi press impeacment
© REUTERS/Tom BrennerUS House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds her weekly news conference with Capitol Hill reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 28, 2021.
The House voted 232-197 to impeach the commander-in-chief last Wednesday.

Democrats filed a single article of impeachment, charging the president with "incitement of an insurrection" after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol the week before.


Comment: Still using the MSM line? Shame on you NY Post.

Members of Congress were forced to evacuate in gas masks after the violent mob overpowered Capitol Police and breached the building.

The siege resulted in five deaths, including the killing of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. Two other Capitol Police officers have committed suicide in the weeks that followed.

A two-thirds majority is needed in the chamber to find Trump guilty, meaning all Democrats and 17 Republicans would have to vote to convict something that seemed very unlikely at the start and even more so after 45 Republicans this week supported a measure by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) challenging the trial on constitutional grounds since Trump is already out of office.

While the riots caused significant destruction, even some Democrats have voiced their opposition to the process, saying it will further split the country.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) called the process "so ill-advised" earlier this month, arguing that Congress should instead "let the judicial system do its job."
trump impeachment acquit headline
© Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty ImagesFormer President Donald Trump holds up a newspaper that displays a headline "Acquitted," as he arrives to speak at the 68th annual National Prayer Breakfast.
"I think this is so ill-advised for Joe Biden to be coming in, trying to heal the country, trying to be the president of all the people when we are going to be so divided and fighting again," he said.

The Senate Democrat argued that as a country that respects "the rule of law," the legal system would handle the outgoing president appropriately.

"Let that take its place. Let the investigations go on and evidence come forth and then we will go forth from there. There is no rush to do this impeachment now, we can do it later if they think it's necessary."