A majority of Republican voters surveyed in a new poll said President-elect Joe Biden is at fault for the actions of President Donald Trump’s supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
The YouGov poll, which surveyed 1,448 registered voters on Wednesday, found 52% of Republicans said Biden was at least somewhat to blame for the violence at the Capitol while 28% of surveyed Republicans said it was Trump’s fault. Twenty-six percent of Republicans said the congressional Republicans who said they would vote against certifying Biden’s presidential win were to blame. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
A majority of registered voters — 55% — said Trump is “a great deal to blame,” and 50% said it was “appropriate” to remove Trump from office due to the violence at the Capitol.
Trump has made baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud and challenged the results of the election for months. He spoke at a rally of his supporters on the National Mall on Wednesday as Congress convened to certify the Electoral College vote and cement Biden’s presidential win. A mob of pro-Trump rioters then stormed Capitol building as Congress was in session, forcing evacuations and a lockdown that lasted hours.
Lawmakers from both parties have blamed Trump’s rhetoric for the riot at the Capitol, which led to at least five deaths, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer and a woman who was shot and killed by police.
Forty-five percent of Republicans surveyed said they approved of the storming of the Capitol while 43% opposed it. Among registered voters overall, 21% said they support the Capitol rioters and 71% “strongly or somewhat oppose.”
Among registered voters, 52% would label the rioters as “extremists,” 49% would say they’re “domestic terrorists” and 41% would call them “criminals.” Half of Republicans surveyed said the people who stormed the Capitol are “protesters,” 30% would call them “patriots” while 26% said they’re “extremists.”
Many Democratic lawmakers, as well as Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, have called for Trump's impeachment or the invocation of the 25th Amendment.
The New York Times reported that Vice President Mike Pence doesn’t support invoking the amendment, which requires the support of a majority of Cabinet officials.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, assistant House speaker, said House Democrats are eyeing a vote to impeach Trump as early as “mid-next week.”
