American trust in the executive branch has been in the high 30s to high 40s since roughly 2006 during President George W. Bush's administration. The fact that more than half of Americans trusted the government in Washington meant the revelations in the impeachment hearings in 1974 shocked the country. The result is an American public that is no longer shocked by its government and institutions behaving badly but instead expecting it. In the end, the hardest part of the impeachment inquiry for Democrats may not be proving Trump committed an impeachable offense. It may be convincing a jaded American public that it matters.

Source: CNN November 29, 2019 17:15 UTC