Extras News
Data Shows Mississippians Less Interested in Trump’s Impeachment Process
Story by Ahmed Shatil Alam
Ole Miss Graduate Student
aalam@go.olemiss.edu
After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered a formal impeachment inquiry of the U.S. president Donald Trump Sept. 24, searches for the term “impeachment” spiked across the country, according to Google Trends data.
Since that day, searches for the term have dropped sharply, and interest appears particularly low in Mississippi.
People searched ‘impeachment’ most on Sept. 24, but that’s decreased over time.
Local political experts and activists say that may be attributed to the fact that Trump has huge support in the state, with 58% of voters choosing him in the 2016 presidential election.
“President Trump enjoys sky-high approval ratings in Mississippi. Many national polls have Mississippi among the three states with the highest Trump approval ratings,” said Adam Ganucheau, a political reporter for the non-partisan website Mississippi Today.
To take a look at where interest in the term impeachment is higher or lower within the 50 states and the District of Columbia, click on the list symbol in the lower right of this interactive graphic.
On the Ole Miss campus, Ryan Ammenheuser is the secretary for the College Democrats organization – the official student wing of the Democratic Party at the university. Based on his experience, Ammenheuser said he thinks the state’s widespread support of Trump helps explain some of the lower interest among Mississippians.
“Impeachment is less of a talking point because, unlike in more liberal or swing states, it’s not seen as net positive by most people in this state,” said Ammenheuser.
School of Journalism and New Media Associate Professor Charles D. Mitchell spent more than 30 years working as a journalist in the South. He sees evidence on social media and on other platforms that makes him believe that many Mississippians simply do not want to see Trump impeached or removed from office, and they consider the impeachment process unwarranted.
“(People) do not believe the issue…and they think the president is attacked by his political enemies,” Mitchell said.
Within Mississippi, Trends data indicates the Hattiesburg-Laurel metro area has the highest level of search activity for the term impeachment, followed by Biloxi, Greenwood, Columbus-Tupelo and Jackson. (Oxford is included in the Memphis metro.)
Ganucheau said he is not surprised by Mississippians’ apparent lack of interest in seeking out information about impeachment.
“They’ve continued to stand by during scandals that very likely would’ve hurt any other U.S. president,” he said.
| Mon, Nov 4 |  | vs Long Island University | W, 90-60 |
| Fri, Nov 8 |  | vs Grambling | W, 66-64 |
| Tue, Nov 12 |  | vs South Alabama | W, 64-54 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Colorado State | W, 84-69 |
| Thu, Nov 21 |  | vs Oral Roberts | L, 100-68 |
| Thu, Nov 28 |  | vs BYU | W, 96-85 OT |
| Fri, Nov 29 |  | vs 13 Purdue | L, 80-78 |
| Tue, Dec 3 |  | @ Louisville | W, 86-63 |
| Sat, Dec 7 |  | vs Lindenwood | W, 86-53 |
| Sat, Dec 14 |  | vs Southern Miss | W, 77-46 |
| Tue, Dec 17 |  | vs Southern | W, 74-61 |
| Sat, Dec 21 |  | vs Queens University | W, 80-62 |
| Sat, Dec 28 |  | @ Memphis | L, 87-70 |
| Sat, Jan 4 |  | vs Georgia | W, 63-51 |
| Wed, Jan 8 |  | @ 23 Arkansas | W, 73-66 |
| Sat, Jan 11 |  | vs LSU | W, 77-65 |
| Tue, Jan 14 |  | @ 5 Alabama | W, 74-64 |
| Sat, Jan 18 |  | @ 17 Mississippi State | L, 81-84 |
| Wed, Jan 22 |  | vs 13 Texas A&M | L, 62-63 |
| Sat, Jan 25 |  | @ Missouri | L, 83-75 |
| Wed, Jan 29 |  | vs Texas | W, 72-69 |
| Sat, Feb 1 |  | vs 2 Auburn | L, 92-82 |
| Tue, Feb 4 |  | vs 10 Kentucky | W, 98-84 |
| Sat, Feb 8 | | @ LSU | 7:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 12 |  | @ South Carolina | 6:00 PM SECN |
| Sat, Feb 15 | | vs 17 Mississippi State | 5:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Feb 22 |  | @ Vanderbilt | 2:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 26 | | @ 2 Auburn | 6:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 1 |  | vs 12 Oklahoma | 1:00 PM TBA |
| Wed, Mar 5 |  | vs 1 Tennessee | 8:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 8 |  | @ 6 Florida | 5:00 PM SECN |
Richard Burns
October 21, 2019 at 3:49 pm
Maybe it’s because Mississippians are more educated on the impeachment process than the average Trump hating Democrat. Impeachment itself means nothing. There’s 100 members in the Senate and at least 67 must vote to REMOVE Trump. In reverse, that means ALL Trump needs to do to stay in office is get just 34 (thirty four) votes in the Senate. And Republicans make up about 53 or 54 of those 100 members.
Richard Burns
October 22, 2019 at 1:49 am
Has anyone else noticed that FEW of these news features/articles ever get ANY notice in comments? Seems Hottytoddy.com is a virtually UN-NOTICED website. Sure gone to hades in a handbasket since Dr. Ed Meek gifted Hottytoddy.com to the Journalsim School, on/about Sept-7th or 9th of 2018.