Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel on Friday drew hackles from across the internet after she touted a mysterious "internal" poll showing that President Donald Trump's popularity has surged now that the House of Representatives has formally voted to launch impeachment proceedings against him.
"Our internal polling shows that despite the Democrats' bogus attacks on Donald Trump, his approval rating has increased!" McDaniel wrote on Twitter. "And in our 17 target states, voters oppose the Democrats’ efforts to remove President Trump by 14 points!"
Despite McDaniel's boasting, however, there is no evidence that Trump's popularity is on the rise.
Polls aggregated by FiveThirtyEight show that American voters approve of impeaching Trump by just over four percentage points, whereas just two months ago support for impeachment was underwater by well over ten percentage points.
Additionally, FiveThirtyEight's average of recent opinion polls pegs Trump's approval rating at just 41 percent, with a disapproval rating of 54 percent. Real Clear Politics' average of recent polls similarly has Trump's approval rating at 42 percent with a disapproval rating of 54 percent.
Daily Beast reporter Sam Stein asked the RNC if they would let him look at this "internal" poll -- but he says they declined.
Check out some reactions to McDaniel's "internal poll" boast below.
@GOPChairwoman @realDonaldTrump Our triple secret poll, which is great and super accurate, believe me, says 45's approval rating is 104%!— Carol Baum (@Carol Baum)1572635281.0
@GOPChairwoman @realDonaldTrump Show the poll Romney 😂— Dave Zirin (@Dave Zirin)1572632031.0
@GOPChairwoman @realDonaldTrump His approval rating can be 100% among his blind followers, but he still committed m… https://t.co/wsJbalwBdZ— Jim Loretangeli Jan 20 (@Jim Loretangeli Jan 20)1572628944.0
@GOPChairwoman @realDonaldTrump So are you going to name those "17 target states"... or nah?— Pé (@Pé)1572633233.0
@GOPChairwoman @realDonaldTrump more Republicans support impeachment today than they did last month— Sara Ackerman 🐺🗽 (@Sara Ackerman 🐺🗽)1572632013.0
@GOPChairwoman @realDonaldTrump I'm feeling psychic: I predict that your 17 target states are not very populous states. Prove me wrong.— JRehling (@JRehling)1572636029.0
@GOPChairwoman @realDonaldTrump “Internal polls”....is that like I have a girlfriend in Canada— Resistance MD (@Resistance MD)1572632746.0
@GOPChairwoman @realDonaldTrump My own internal polling shows that people who drop their family name at Donald Trum… https://t.co/yyaPmBprhi— Anita Creamer (@Anita Creamer)1572634164.0
