Half of Americans say former US President Donald Trump should be convicted in a Senate impeachment trial next week over his incitement of a violent march on the Capitol last month, according to a new poll.

The Quinnipiac University survey found that 50 percent of respondents believe Trump should be convicted and 45 percent believe he should not be convicted, the Politico reported on Friday.

Forty-nine percent of independents said Trump should be convicted and 45 percent said he should not be convicted.

Meanwhile, 86 percent of Republicans said Trump should not be convicted, and 86 percent of Democrats said he should.

“The impeachment question is framed by two distinctly different versions of history and offers as vivid an example of the chasm between Republicans and Democrats as you can find,” said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.

The findings are similar to a separate Monmouth University survey released last month which found that most Americans believe Trump should be impeached and convicted.

The new poll from Quinnipiac University also found that nearly three-fourths of Republicans surveyed believe there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election but others do not do not believe there was such a voter fraud.

Seventy-five percent of Americans said they are concerned about extremist violence in the country while 74 percent believe social media platforms should be held responsible for the spread of disinformation.

Trump is being impeached for a second time, this time for incitement of insurrection, in the wake of his supporters’ attempt to overturn the election results in his favor by storming the Congress, where the lawmakers were holding a session to certify the victory of President Joe Biden.

Most Republican senators have dismissed Trump’s second impeachment trial, making it highly unlikely for the upper chamber of Congress to vote to convict.

Most Republican lawmakers have also backed Trump’s position on election fraud.

A two-thirds majority vote would be required for his conviction which would require at least 17 Republican votes if every Democrat votes to convict Trump.

Last month five Republicans voted against tabling a motion calling the trial unconstitutional made it certain the Senate will not win the two-thirds vote necessary for conviction.

Source: Presstv