Trump claims polls would give him 65 per cent approval if Russia 'witch hunt' probes had never happened and says Democrats are intent on impeaching him to highlight split inside party

  • Trump argued his approval rating would be higher without Russia probe
  • His favorite poll has him at 46 per cent
  • The president also railed against the fresh impeachment talk from Democrats
  • He labeled it 'presidential harassment'
  • His fury comes as House Democrats meet Wednesday on the issue
  • Speaker Pelosi is trying to rein in her party and keep impeachment off the table 

President Donald Trump blamed special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation as the reason behind his sinking poll numbers as he railed against fresh impeachment talk from Democrats as 'presidential harassment.' 

Trump argued Wednesday that without the 'witch hunt' he'd be at 65 per cent approval rating.

'Without the ILLEGAL Witch Hunt, my poll numbers, especially because of our historically 'great' economy, would be at 65%. Too bad! The greatest Hoax in American History,' he tweeted. 

President Trump is arguing his approval rating would be higher without the Russia probe

President Trump is arguing his approval rating would be higher without the Russia probe

Trump's job approval hasn't been above the 50 per cent mark since March, when his favorite Rasmussen survey had him at that spot. 

But currently Rasmussen has the president at 46 per cent approval. 

A Quinnipiac poll has him at 38 percent.  

Meanwhile the RealClearPolitics polling average has President Trump's approval rating at 42.7 per cent. 

The president's tweet about poll numbers also comes as surveys show former Vice President Joe Biden would beat him if the general election were held today.

Trump's focus has turned toward 2020 as he gears up to formally launch his re-election bid, which comes as Democrats are turning up the pressure on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch an impeachment probe into the president.

And Trump, in return, charged Democrats Wednesday with forgoing their legislative work in Congress to investigate him. 

President Trump also railed against the fresh impeachment talk against him

President Trump also railed against the fresh impeachment talk against him

'The Democrats are getting ZERO work done in Congress. All they are focused on is trying to prove the Mueller Report wrong, the Witch Hunt!,' the president complained on twitter. 

Pelosi is working to tamp down the renewed talk of impeachment against the president. 

She is hosting a closed-door meeting with House Democrats on Wednesday at the Capitol to try to rein in lawmakers who want to see impeachment proceedings begin.

Trump complained the fresh push for impeachment is paramount to 'presidential harassment.' 

'Everything the Democrats are asking me for is based on an illegally started investigation that failed for them, especially when the Mueller Report came back with a NO COLLUSION finding. Now they say Impeach President Trump, even though he did nothin wrong, while they 'fish!',' he tweeted as part of his series of four tweets on the subject Wednesday morning.

He added: 'After two years of an expensive and comprehensive Witch Hunt, the Democrats don't like the result and they want a DO OVER. In other words, the Witch Hunt continues!'  

He concluded: 'PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!'

Speaker Nancy Pelosi will meet with House Democrats Wednesday to try and rein in the impeachment talk

Speaker Nancy Pelosi will meet with House Democrats Wednesday to try and rein in the impeachment talk 

Pelosi is arguing for Democrats to continue their line of investigation into Trump's businesses, his taxes, and his 2016 campaign without taking it to impeachment levels.

She was a leader in the House in the 1990s when Republicans tried to impeach then-President Bill Clinton - only to lose control of the lower chamber in the next election.

But the impeachment talk among her party has heated up in the wake of former White House counsel Don McGahn's refusal, at the White House's request, to comply with a subpoena for his testimony on the Russia investigation and his testimony outlined in Mueller's report.

His refusal to appear Tuesday set off a wave of fury among Democrats.

Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN that she knows 'being the speaker is hard, but I think we know what we need to do. We have to move forward.'

And even some of Pelosi's loyal lieutenants are starting to move toward impeachment.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the power chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee - one of the six panels investigating Trump - said he is 'getting there' on impeachment. 

'I think what the president has done has put us in a position where we cannot get any information to do the oversight that we need to do. And that basically ties our hands and makes us, with regard to oversight, powerless,' Cummings said on CNN.

'The question now becomes: Do we allow this to continue? And where do we end up if we do that? That is the question,' Cummings added. 'And I'm still mulling it over and talking to my colleagues when I get on the floor in a few minutes. But I'm getting there.' 

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Trump claims polls would give him 65 per cent approval if Russia 'witch hunt' never happened

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