Mitt Romney is now more popular with Democrats than with Republicans — and it's not even close

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is viewed more favorably among Democrats than he is among members of his own party following his vote to impeach President Trump earlier this year, a new Gallup poll found.

The former GOP presidential nominee has seen his approval rating among Republicans fall dramatically from its high in November 2012, when 84% of Republicans viewed him favorably, to its new low in February 2020, when just 23% viewed him favorably — a massive 61-point drop.

Yet among Democrats, Romney's approval rating has been steadily increasing since November 2012, when just 24% of Democrats viewed him favorably. By February 2020, that figure had jumped to 56%, a 32-point increase in that time span.

As Hot Air pointed out, this means that Romney's current favorability rating among Republicans is one percentage point lower than it was among Democrats on the eve of the 2012 election.

As it stands, Romney is viewed more favorably among Democrats than he is among Republicans by 33 points. Among all U.S. adults, he has a 39% favorability rating.

Impeachment served Republicans well, but hurt Romney

The Gallup poll also found that the impeachment process against President Trump appeared to be a boon for Republicans on Capitol Hill.

The favorability rating for congressional Republicans jumped 6 percentage points to 40% since October, while Democrats' rating sank 3 percentage points since October and is down to 35%. The increase for Republicans appears to be buoyed by a 13-point bump in support from within their own party.

The stark partisan view on impeachment also indicates why Romney's favorability rating fell so dramatically among Republicans. Romney was the only Republican to break with his party and vote to convict President Trump on one of two impeachment charges lodged against him in the Senate impeachment trial last month.