Busted: LA Times Columnist Spreads Fake Polling News on Impeachment

LA Times building
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An LA Times columnist on Thursday touted fake polling news on support for impeachment, falsely claiming that a recent poll indicates that support for impeaching the president is growing.

“For the first time, a reputable poll shows Americans now favor impeachment, 55%-26%,” Doyle McManus, who also works as the director of Georgetown’s undergraduate journalism program, wrote in a now-deleted tweet, which referenced a recent YouGov poll.

“Caveat: It’s only one poll–but a trend worth watching for,” he added.

The tweet has since been deleted:

However, his assertion is patently false. The poll did not ask a broad question on impeachment. Rather, the results he cites are in reference to a very specific question, asking respondents if they would support impeachment in the event that President Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine in order to push Ukrainian leaders to dig up dirt on his potential 2020 rival, Joe Biden (D), as well as his son.

The question is as follows: “If President Donald Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine in order to incentivize the country’s officials to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, would you support or oppose impeachment?”

In that specific scenario, 55 percent would support impeachment. The results do not suggest that the majority of Americans support an impeachment inquiry, as McManus suggested.

“What?! This is false,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) senior advisor Matt Whitlock remarked, pointing to the specifics of the question:

“Literally NOT WHAT THE POLL SAYS!!!!” One America News’s Ryan James Girdusky wrote, adding, “Reporters… You wanna stop being called the enemy of the people… THEN STOP MAKING UP BULLSHIT”:

A Quinnipiac University poll published Wednesday revealed low support for impeachment, with 37 percent of Americans in favor and 57 percent disapproving of such a measure.

A slew polls have paralleled Quinnipiac’s findings, with the majority of Americans opposing impeaching the president. Despite lack of public support or a legitimate impeachable offense, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) officially announced the formal impeachment inquiry this week.

As Breitbart News reported, every Democrat member of the House went on the record to support the latest impeachment effort thanks to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who forced the House to vote on a resolution “formally condemning the way in which Pelosi launched the impeachment inquiry.”

“The battle lines are drawn,” a senior House GOP aide told Breitbart News.“We now know where every member of the House is on impeachment. And we know it is purely partisan.”

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