Axios-Ipsos poll: More than half of Americans want Trump removed
Published Date: 1/14/2021
Source: axios.com
Data: Ipsos/Axios survey; Chart: Axios Visuals

A majority of Americans wants President Trump removed from office immediately, with just a week to go before President-elect Biden is inaugurated, according to a new Ipsos poll for Axios.

The big picture: The 56% who want him removed is up, from 51% in another Ipsos poll last week. But three in four Republicans disagree. It's mostly Democrats and a slight majority of independents who want him gone.


  • The poll was taken just before Trump was impeached for a second time Wednesday for encouraging the rioters who stormed the Capitol last week.

By the numbers:

  • 94% of Democrats say Trump should be removed immediately.
  • 54% of independents agree.
  • Just 17% of Republicans agree.
  • Among those who identify themselves as traditional Republicans, 24% say Trump should be removed. But just 1% of self-identified Trump supporters are open to that — and 94% say no to removal.

Reality check: It's not going to happen. The Senate would have to hold a trial and convict Trump to remove him from office, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made it clear Wednesday that "there is simply no chance that a fair or serious trial could conclude before President-elect Biden is sworn in next week."

  • Vice President Mike Pence has already ruled out the other vehicle for ousting Trump: removing him under the 25th Amendment.

Flashback: It wasn't until August 1974 that a majority of Americans — 57% — supported removing Richard Nixon from office, after the House Judiciary Committee voted for impeachment and the Supreme Court ordered him to release damaging tapes of his conversations about Watergate, per the Pew Research Center.

Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Poll was conducted Jan. 11-13, 2021, by Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,019 general population adults age 18 or older.

  • The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 3.4 percentage points.