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Majority of Americans blame Trump for Capitol chaos: Poll

Monday, 18 January 2021 4:46 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 18 January 2021 5:15 PM ]

Angry protesters climb on walls at the US Capitol during a demonstration against the certification of the disputed 2020 presidential election results by Congress in Washington, DC, January 6, 2021. (Reuters photo)

A majority of Americans have blamed US President Donald Trump for inciting his loyalists for violence at the Capitol earlier this month, according to a new poll.

According to a new NBC News poll, some 52 percent voters surveyed said President Trump was mainly responsible for the invasion of the Capitol by his supporters during the certification of Joe Biden's election victory.

Eighteen percent more also put some blame on Trump, while 29 percent said he was "not really responsible."

On January 6, Trump supporters launched a deadly assault on the US Capitol, disrupting briefly the certification of the November election results. Five people were killed in the siege.

Trump was impeached for the second time last week under the charge of incitement of an insurrection. The Senate will not vote on impeachment until after President-elect Biden’s inauguration.

The Senate, already out of session, will recess on Jan. 19 and the earliest day it could begin the impeachment process would be either on Jan. 20, the day President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in, or Jan. 21, the day after he is sworn in.

According to the NBC News poll, only 11 percent of Republicans surveyed blamed Trump for the Capitol violence, compared with 44 percent of independents and 91 percent of Democrats.

Twenty-eight percent of the Republicans said that Trump's actions made them happier that they had supported him. A mere 5 percent of those surveyed said they now regretted voting for Trump. Meanwhile, 66 percent said their feelings for the president remained unchanged.