On January 13th, Former President Donald Trump added ‘first President to be impeached twice’ and ‘first President to be tried after leaving office’ to his long list of historic accomplishments, with the House of Representatives voting to impeach him once again after his first impeachment and acquittal in December 2019. Considering the results of the first impeachment, it came as no surprise the US Senate would vote to acquit Trump on February 13th, despite the 57 votes to convict versus the 43 votes to acquit. Following the conclusion of the trials and what some may consider the final closure to the Trump presidency, questions still remain. How did Trump escape conviction a second time, and what does his acquittal mean for the future?
Trump’s impeachment is a direct result of the January 6th Capitol Riots that killed five people and injured countless—including the face of American democracy. The trials centred around the following question: Was Donald Trump responsible for inciting the violence the Capitol fell victim to that day? After presenting evidence including witness testimony and harrowing video footage, the majority consensus in both the House of Representatives and the Senate said yes.
The most memorable piece of evidence presented during the trials was a 13-minute long video depicting the riots and violence first-hand, including surveillance footage inside the Capitol building as it fended off and ultimately succumbed to the attackers. Notable portions of the video include surveillance footage of Vice President Mike Pence and his family being escorted out of the building mere hallways away from a crowd of violent rioters, within the walls of a building surrounded by those screaming “Traitor Pence” and hoisting nooses and firearms in tow. The video also showed Capitol officer Eugene Goodman, who had previously been commended for distracting a group of protestors from the Senate chamber, running down a hallway and crossing paths with Senator Mitt Romney who was seemingly walking straight towards a crowd of rioters. Goodman points frantically in the other direction, and Senator Romney turns and runs to safety. Considering that Romney, a Republican Senator, has been known to vote against his own party including in Donald Trump’s first impeachment, there is no doubt that he would not be met warmly by the protestors—Eugene Goodman likely prevented another tragedy.
So despite all this evidence, why did Trump get acquitted? The prevailing sentiment among Senators voting to acquit Trump was that it was unconstitutional to impeach a President who no longer held office at the time of the trial, despite the fact convicting Trump would prevent him from running for President again in the future. This was met by intense scrutiny from the public, who argued that the Former President must be held accountable for the damage done on January 6th, even questioning whether the same reasoning would apply to someone with any other job. Republican Party Leader Mitch McConnell can even be quoted as saying rioters had been "fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth. Because he was angry he'd lost an election. Former President Trump's actions that preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty," he added, "Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day." Despite these statements, McConnell and 42 other Senators voted to acquit, causing the votes to convict to fall short of the two-thirds majority required.
What does this mean for the future? Donald Trump’s acquittal means he is technically eligible to run for President again as soon as 2024. However, he has not yet expressed any intentions of doing so. And while this conclusion may finally close the door on one of the most sensationalized and polarizing presidencies in American history, it is important to remember that America remains largely unchanged. While the individual in power is replaced, the millions of people who voted him into office still remain. The radicalized rioters who stormed the Capitol that day continue to survive in dozens of extremist groups in the country, and the corrosive sentiments that created the Trump presidency continue to live on.
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