Now making history, Donald Trump is the first president in the United States to undergo impeachment two times. After taking America through a whirlwind of chilling events, he will be remembered as the most troubling leader yet.
Without surprise though, after encouraging an unruly mob of his supporters that violated the capitol on January 6., only 10 Senate Republicans voted in favor of impeaching Trump. This is hypocrisy at its best.
In a questionable attempt to move forward in unity, the majority Republican Senate vote to decline his impeachment shows otherwise. The same party that voted Trump in shied away from his ongoing scandals and controversial decisions. They slowly began to distance themselves from him throughout the duration of his term. Yet, they supported him through his impeachment and conviction trial.
Many GOP leaders that once supported Trump, slowly drifted away. In a survey conducted by USA Today, Republican senators expressed their change of endorsement after a video of Trump making remarks about women was released in 2020.
In the recent 2020 presidential election, there was also clear pushback from Republican lawmakers and representatives about Trump’s claim that Democrats tried to steal the election.
In a Youtube video entitled, “Courage over Conspiracy,” by Representative Adam Kinzinger, he said, “Right now, members of Congress are planning to try to overthrow this election by using the debunked conspiracy theories. Let’s be clear- they won’t succeed- and they all know it…. I’ve heard from so many members of Congress who know this isn’t true but they fear their next election.”
This shows that Republican members of Congress would rather protect their position and support the unsupported claims of Trump, than to be truthful and respond accordingly.
Many Republican lawmakers confess that their reason for voting against the impeachment was fear.
Representative Jason Crow, in a MSNBC interview said, “I had a lot of conversations with my Republican colleagues last night and a couple of them broke down in tears, talking to me and saying they’re afraid for their lives if they vote for this impeachment. My response was, not to be unsympathetic, but welcome to the club.”
Instead of having the courage to stand for what is right for America, many of the current Republican lawmakers stand back.
It is unclear to me why GOP leaders choose to move in silence and remain unresponsive in times of adversity but openly supported Trump even after deadly events this year.