Rep. Jim Clyburn believes that the House Democrats' impeachment investigation into President Trump could hurt his party at the ballot box in 2020.

Clyburn, 79, was elected to Congress in 1993 and is serving his party in the House as majority whip. The South Carolina Democrat appeared on CNN on Sunday and asserted that while impeachment could backfire on the Democrats, the party's political concerns should not drive the process.

"Sure, it could, and that would make this whole process much more political than I would like this to be," Clyburn told State of the Union guest host Dana Bash after she asked if impeachment proceedings could harm Democrats in 2020.

"I believe that this whole process to me is about preserving this republic, protecting the democracy that we hold dear, and I do not believe that we are to allow our political feelings to get in the middle of this," Clyburn continued.

Americans slightly favor impeaching President Trump and removing him from office. An average of nationwide polls on the question show about 48% of Americans support removing Trump from office while 45% oppose ousting him.

Polling on impeachment in states important to Trump's reelections chances seem to favor the president, however. Voters in the battlegrounds states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Arizona oppose impeaching and removing Trump from office by a 10-point margin, 53% to 43%.