Four in five Americans say 'US is falling apart', poll finds
Roughly four in five Americans believe that the United States is "falling apart" following the violence at the US Capitol building last week, according to a new poll.
The Axios-Ipsos poll found the majority of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "America is falling apart". Out of the 1,000 people surveyed, 78 percent of Democrats, and 83 percent of Republicans, agreed with the statement.
Despite this, a similar number of respondents, 81 percent, said that they were still "proud to be an American".
It also found that the number of people who think Trump should be removed from office has increased since 6 January, when hundreds of the president's supporters stormed the US Capitol building in an attempt to stop the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in November.
No fewer than 56 percent of those surveyed this week said they supported removing the president from office, up from 51 percent in the previous week.
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The issue still falls mostly along partisan lines, however, with 75 percent of Republicans opposing such a move.
Among Republicans, 62 percent continue to believe that Trump was right to contest the election results, the driving rhetoric behind a rally he held just before the violence erupted at the Capitol.
Five people died during the riot, including a Capitol Police officer, a woman shot by police, and three others.
The FBI has warned of armed protests in all 50 US states in the days leading up to Biden's inauguration on 20 January. A reported 20,000 National Guard troops are being deployed to the nation's capital in anticipation of violence and unrest.
Other polls conducted this week, including the Morning Consult-Politico survey and a CBS poll, also found that a majority of Americans supported impeaching Trump. A Quinnipiac poll found that 52 percent of respondents supported removing him from office.
The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump on Wednesday evening in a 232 to 197 vote.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the impeachment trial in the Senate would likely not begin until Tuesday, one day before Biden's inauguration, adding that he had not yet decided whether to vote to convict or acquit the president.
The Trump administration's international standing also seemed to take a hit following the riots last week, with Luxembourg - a small but wealthy Nato ally - and top European Union officials snubbing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by declining a meeting with him, ultimately leading to the cancellation of the administration's entire trip to the continent.
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