How the story of impeachment tells the story of polarization

The leaks from John Bolton’s forthcoming book are only the most recent revelations in the impeachment process. But despite all the revelations from current and former Trump officials, the chart of public support for removing Trump from office has been a flat line. Nothing changes people’s views.

To unpack those numbers more, consider this pattern. At the height of Watergate, the overall share of people who wanted to remove the president was not much different than it is today. In fact, days before Richard Nixon resigned, only 71 percent of Democrats supported his removal, compared with 89 percent who now support removing President Trump. Then, 55 percent of independents supported removal, similar to the 48 percent who do now. The biggest shift is with Republicans. In August 1974, 31 percent of Republicans favored Nixon’s removal. Today, only 8 percent of Republicans feel that way about Trump.

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