Nate Silver speculates Senate rejecting witnesses may 'leave a bitter taste' in voters' mouths

Could the Senate's failure to call additional impeachment witnesses come back to haunt Republicans this November?

FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver speculated as much Friday morning as the Senate appears poised to not call new witnesses in President Trump's impeachment trial. This is despite the fact that polling has shown Americans, including 75 percent of registered voters in a recent Quinnipiac poll, are supportive of new witnesses being called.

With this in mind, Silver on Friday speculated about the "electoral consequences," wondering if the impending move might "leave a bitter taste in a lot of voters' mouths" this November.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Still, The Washington Post's Philip Bump points out that the 75 percent of voters in the Quinnipiac poll, for example, includes 49 percent of Republicans, and the witnesses Democrats want "are almost certainly not the same witnesses supported by that plurality of Republicans." Indeed, while Democrats have pushed for testimony from former National Security Adviser John Bolton, Republicans have pushed for testimony from former Vice President Joe Biden. Bump notes, then, that "Both sides support witnesses — but only in the abstract."