An impeached president

WHATEVER comes next, Donald Trump goes down in history as the third president of the United States of America to be impeached. That fact alone, the outcome of Wednesday’s historic vote in the House of Representatives, should cause reflection among his supporters, his opponents and the world at large as a wave of backward-looking nationalist ideology sweeps the global political landscape.

Is this the coup de grace that ends the Trump presidency? Those who support him – and he has many emulators like India’s Narendra Modi – are not likely to be swayed. Yet Republicans, who sit in the Senate where a full trial is due to unfold, do themselves little favour by prematurely declaring they will not vote for his removal even before hearing an iota of evidence. That’s like a judge saying, before hearing a case, that they have already made up their mind. As Ruth Bader Ginsburg observes, such a remark would disqualify a judge.

Trump has alleged an unfair process. But the place to make such allegations would be, using the remedies set out under the law, before a body with jurisdiction to hear such complaints. By attempting to bar witnesses, by having allies not testify, by failing to avail himself of chances to defend his own name, he has already demonstrated the charge – handing the Democrats the proof they need to demonstrate obstructiveness and a willingness to use the powers of office to circumvent consequences. What’s disturbing is this is just the tip of the iceberg, if the charges in relation to Ukraine alone are anything to go by.

And yet the American people remain divided along political and ideological lines. Half would have the president removed. But the polls show Trump’s standing has actually increased in the wake of the impeachment proceedings. Warning lights are flashing for Democrats who would do well to look at what happened in the UK, where a progressive Labour Party that used Parliament in an attempt to check Boris Johnson’s Brexit came away from last week’s election badly.

Though the outcome may well pave the way for a second Trump term, those who reluctantly moved forward with this process say they did so not for political points but to do two things: protect the Constitution and to show no one is above the law. By these measures alone, impeachment was unavoidable.

For now, the world looks on. The articles of impeachment give little to cause reassurance, stating: “President Trump has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office.”

Over the last three years the world has witnessed Barack Obama’s successor roll back the clock, dismantling every form of progress imaginable while emboldening despots to tighten their grip. Is he about to do the same, with the blessing of his supporters?