Trump approval ticks up amid impeachment battle: Gallup

President Trump’s approval rating ticked back up amid the public impeachment battle, a poll released Wednesday found. 

A Gallup poll found 43 percent of respondents supported Trump’s performance, 2 percentage points more than the end of October poll. The disapproval rating of the president dropped to 54 percent from 57 percent in the previous poll.

The approval rating matches the number Gallup recorded in mid-September, before the news broke of the whistleblower complaint that ended up sparking the House’s impeachment inquiry into the president. The numbers show the stability of the president’s approval as the impeachment inquiry has unfolded. 

This poll was conducted from Nov. 1 to 14, before most of the public hearings took place, except for the public testimonies of diplomats William Taylor and George Kent on Nov. 13. 

Despite this, 69 percent of respondents said they had made up their minds on whether the president should be removed from office or not. A total of 48 percent approved impeachment and removal, while 50 percent opposed it.

Republican support for the president’s performance has remained statistically unchanged throughout the inquiry process, with 90 percent backing Trump. Four percent of Democrats reported approval of the president in this poll, and 38 percent of independents reported their support.

Gallup noted that former President Nixon’s approval rating took a downward fall during the development of the impeachment inquiry in the early 1970s.

The poll surveyed 1,015 American adults and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

The House began its inquiry into the president after a whistleblower report filed to Congress claimed that Trump asked the Ukrainian president to look into former Vice President Joe Biden, days after the White House withheld military aid to the country.