By: Isaac Pischer
2020 has been a big year on the political scene for a variety of reasons, such as handling the Coronavirus Pandemic and dealing with protests associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. However, two other events took place, and both could affect the president’s future in the White House.
The impeachment of Donald Trump started in 2019 when members of the House of Representatives drafted two articles of impeachment for abuse of power and obstruction to Congress. These charges were filed off of an inquiry that Trump was using the Ukrainian government to help with his 2020 reelection bid, as well as conspiracies that Russia was not involved with the 2016 election, but rather the Ukrainian Government.
The House of Representatives Judiciary committee met in December 2019 after the inquiry stage earlier that fall, to adopt the articles of impeachment. The full house then voted to impeach Trump with 230 votes over the 197 against impeachment. In January, the articles were presented to the Senate, where Trump was tried for obstruction to Congress as well as abuse of power. After days of trials, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 52-48 “not guilty” for Abuse of Power, and 57-43 “not guilty” for obstruction to Congress. These votes from the Senate acquitted Trump and he was not removed from office.
Following the impeachment trials, the Americans turned to the 2020 election between incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger and former vice president Joseph Biden. This was a unique election in a variety of ways, because of the Coronavirus pandemic, as well as it being the second time in history that an impeached 1st term president was running for office.
During the campaign, the president stated multiple times that the election was going to be rigged against him, and refused multiple times to commit to a transfer of power, one of the backbones of American democracy. He also stated multiple times that mail-in voting was not secure.
Joe Biden defeated Trump by over seven million votes and 74 electoral votes – 34 more than needed to win the majority. Following this, Trump and his team lashed out with many lawsuits and legal challenges, using unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud in multiple challenged states that Joe Biden had flipped. Most cases were rejected by states, and no changes came out of the challenges, including those to throw out the votes and handpick electors.
Leading up to the January 6th, 2021 meeting of Congress to certify the votes, Trump threw a large amount of pressure on Republicans and Vice President Mike Pence to object to and reject the counts, which he Constitutionally cannot do. Phone call audio transcripts also show him mocking and asking the Georgia Secretary of State for 11,000 votes, just enough for him to win the state.
At the joint session to confirm the electoral votes, objections were announced for the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. However, only Arizona and Pennsylvania’s met the rules for separate debate and voting. During the debate on Arizona’s results, a group of pro-Trump protesters broke into the Capitol and caused riots, forcing the Capitol and the chambers to go into lockdown. President Trump supported the rioters with tweets and Facebook posts that said “We love you, you’re very special”. Posts were removed, and his Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts were suspended, until at least the end of his term.
Talks and pressure to invoke the 25th amendment and impeachment have risen, however, only time will tell what punishments, if any, comes out of this situation. All we do know is that Biden’s term starts at 12:01 on January 20th, whether Trump likes it or not.
Update – 1/13/2021: The House of Representatives have decided to both call on Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office, and impeach the president a second time in a vote of 232-197. The Senate will now conduct a trial in the coming days and weeks