https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/14/us/trump-impeachment
A historic event took place last Saturday on January 13, as former President Trump became the first president in U.S. history to be impeached, for the second time. Trump was
officially acquitted of the impeachment charge for his actions in inciting the Capitol Hill Insurrection on January 6, 2021. The official tally votes were 57 to 43, with 7 votes coming from the Republican party, in favor of convicting former President Trump. Despite the majority of the Senate that voted in favor of impeaching him, the total count still fell ten less than the 2/3 majority needed for conviction. Many agreed that Trump was guilty, including Senator Minority Leader McConnell who opposed the conviction, yet later called out Trump for his actions in provoking the violence in the Capitol riots. In addition, the outcome of the impeachment trial has strongly divided the Republican Party as they debate over Trump’s role in the future of the party.
In my opinion, I think it will be difficult for Trump to win the election if he chooses to run for President again one day, as the events that took place on January 6th, have forever tarnished his reputation and image. In addition, the potential criminal charges that he faces in Fulton County, Georgia and other civil cases, will most likely prevent him from holding political office in the future. In relation to the current state of the G.O.P, Trump’s actions have certainly split the party, as the tally votes have been the highest number against a President from his own party during a Senate trial, in American history.
Questions:
1) What do you think of Senator’s McConnell hypocrisy in opposing the conviction yet later addressing that Trump was “morally responsible for provoking” the actions that took place on January 6th?
2) What would you say to the Republican senators who voted against the impeachment charges?
3) Do you think that Trump could be voted for President again?
4) What do you think will happen to the G.O.P going forward, with the current divide in the party?
I think that Trump could be elected again, but it would be unlikely. The encouragement to vote and to not vote for Trump going around on social media did help Biden win the 2020 election, and I also think the "excitement" around Trump will die down in 4 years. I think Senator McConnell should have stayed with one side of the story or at least expressed why he changed his opinion. I feel like if he had gone with the story that Trump's actions did provoke the violence, more people may have voted for him to be impeached. It's quite sad that he had to be impeached not once, but twice and yet both times still failed. If he does get reelected though, it is worrying to think about what he might do in his next term and how much more disruption it would cause to the country.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is somewhat likely that Trump could be elected again. There is a possibility that the number of Trump supporters could grow over the next four years, as 75 million people still voted for him during the election, which accounts for almost 47% of the total votes. However, his actions in inciting the insurrection have definitely hurt his chances.
Delete1. I think that McConnell is definatly a hypocrite for opposing conviction yet later claiming he condemned the Former President. Either grow a spine or get voted out.
ReplyDelete2. I don´t care. I´m of the opinion that the Impeachment was purely a political play, and so I´m more pissed at everyone who went along with it.
3. Potentially. His reputation has been tarnished due to the Impeachment and other partisan attacks has tarnished his reputation. However, between a fervant base that feels wronged and the, in my personal opinion, likely disatersous Biden administration, he can make a come-back.
4. The GOP without Trump is basically nothing; the only ones in that term would be neo-cons and boomer Republicans who nobody likes. The way I see it, either the party breaks or the party dies.
I think that McConnell's hypocrisy in opposing conviction, but late claiming that Trump was responsible for provoking the attacks is just him trying to play both sides of the fence and please too many people. As a republican party member who is associated with Trump he wouldn't vote to convict, but he is also trying to please those who feel as thought the events on January 6th were trumps fault. Though in doing this he just constantly contradicts himself, and it isn't a great look. I think that there is a possibility that Trump could be voted for again, but it's pretty likely. He still has a big following and there were millions of people who voted for him this past election. This acquittal may just blind his supporters and prove the point that he wasn't to blame for the events at the capitol. There is a chance that his base can grow. Though, I think his dealings with COVID and the capitol have just tarnished his reputation further and might get more moderate leaning republicans to change their minds on a vote for him.
ReplyDeleteI like how you bring up the reasons behind McConnell’s hypocrisy stemming from his association with Trump, in the past four years, as well as trying to gain more political traction and popularity by condemning Trump’s actions. In addition, McConnell’s actions represent the clash in the Republican Party between loyal Trump-supporters and traditional Republicans, who have been disillusioned by Trump’s antics. And while Trump still holds power and control over much of the Republican party, 63% of Republicans have shown interest in forming a third party, further showing the divide in the Republican party.
Delete1) McConnell is spineless and we all know this; all career politicians are, it's not a particular surprise. He just does whatever is politically beneficial.
ReplyDelete2) Good job.
3) No - mainstream GOP has learned that Trump's coalition doesn't work anymore, too many centrists turned against the party because of him.
4) There is a strong sentiment among conservative circles right now that a new party, though necessary, would split the party and lose them 2022 or even 2024. It is certainly possible that a party split will occur because few people actively like the GOP - I would contend that without Trump and with the exception of a handful of senators such as Ted Cruz, more people would be voting against the Democrats than for the GOP going forward.
1) I am critical of actions. I'm less upset about him voting to acquit but rather how he has enabled Trump's actions over the past four years only to turn on him once he is out of office. I don't believe it is necessarily hypocritical to criticize Trump but not vote to acquit- McConnell justified his decision by arguing that Trump was no longer a sitting president and thus could not be impeached
ReplyDelete2)I am also critical of Republicans who decided not to impeach, but am overall glad that several have repudiated Trump and voted for conviction. In doing so, they've shown bipartisan condemnation of Trump's actions, which combined with McConnell's criticism, should significantly hurt Trump's chances of any other presidential campaign.
1. McConnell and the rest of the Republican senators were put in a tough spot. I think many of them cared about keeping their seats and took whatever action they thought would keep em there. In that sense I think McConnell was trying to play both sides, by not following the former president, but not completely turning his back on him allowing him to possibility retain some Trump voters in his state.
ReplyDelete2. Idc just give us good stimulus checks now please
3. lol no way. The Republican party is fractured, he'd have a tough time climbing to the top again. As the Pandemic calms down under Biden, the general public will definitely see him more as the person who dropped the ball.
4. The right will have a civil war, between the Trump Republicans and the non-Trump republicans. I think the right, won't necessarily have too much a problem winning elections as long as Trump doesn't go 3rd party or something. The right is very good at just uniting against the left for some reason.