The risks and prospects of impeaching Joe Biden https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/4128169-the-risks-and-prospects-of-impeaching-joe-biden/ excerpt: While there are legitimate questions surrounding Biden’s involvement in his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, at this point, there is no hard evidence of wrongdoing that would warrant impeachment. In the absence of clear-cut proof, voters would perceive an impeachment as an overreach by House Republicans, and the GOP could pay a steep political price in next year’s elections as a result. Indeed, the last two impeached presidents saw their poll numbers increase immediately after the proceedings. One month before the 1998 midterms, the Republican-controlled House authorized their impeachment inquiry into former President Bill Clinton; in turn, that was the first midterm election in over six decades where a president’s party gained congressional seats. Clinton’s strongest approval rating — 73 percent — also came in December 1998, when the House was taking up the articles of impeachment against him, per Gallup polling. In more recent history, former President Donald Trump’s highest-ever approval rating — 47 percent — was recorded in February 2020, just days after the Senate acquitted him in his first impeachment trial, according to NBC News polling. Trump’s approval ticked up even higher among independent voters — to 51 percent — after previously having numbers in the low 30s. Not only did impeachment strengthen Trump’s position it also eroded trust in the government. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans — including majorities of both parties — said that their level of trust in political institutions decreased because of Trump’s first impeachment, per FiveThirtyEight. While other factors — i.e., strong economies in both 1998 and pre-COVID-2020 — could very well have contributed to Clinton’s and Trump’s rising ratings, it’s also clear that both impeachments, which at the time were viewed as heavily partisan, played a role. more at the link
