The Donald Trump impeachment question we can’t ignore

| 7:07 pm EDT April 25, 2019
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To impeach or not to impeach? That is the question on everyone’s mind. Without at least twenty Republican Senators willing to help remove Trump, his ouster isn’t likely. Should that stop the Democrats from trying? Mitch McConnell claimed that impeaching Bill Clinton “hurt the Republicans” because Clinton’s approval rating went up as a result, and theirs went down.

That is true, but as Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC recently tweeted, the notion that Clinton’s impeachment hurt Republicans is not true: “House Republicans impeached Bill Clinton. Then Republicans won the House again in the next election. And Republicans won the Senate again. And Republicans won the White House. It’s a political myth that the Clinton impeachment hurt Republicans.” So much for that theory.

Many are calling for Trump’s impeachment, including lifelong Republicans such as J.W. Verret, who briefly worked as deputy director of economic policy on Trump’s transition team. According to his new piece in Guardians of Democracy, “There is enough here [in the Mueller report] to begin impeachment proceedings.” Vetter says he’s read the Mueller report twice. Even though he didn’t agree with Trump’s policies and resigned from the transition team, Vetter did not see himself as a “never Trump” Republican. Regardless, Verret firmly believes that Trump performed an “elaborate pattern of obstruction” that actually did hamper the Special Counsel’s investigation. Verret believes Trump is guilty and cannot remain in office. Other Republicans are slowly coming forward to speak out against Trump as well.

Iowa politician Andy McKean — the longest serving Republican in the Iowa Legislature — is leaving the party because of his disapproval of “President” Trump, according to the Des Moines Register. This publication also listed a poll in which it claims that “registered Republicans like Trump but 40 percent want a GOP challenger.”

Bill Weld is running against Trump, and there’s buzz that Mitt Romney could run as well. Finally, Bob Corker, speaking at the TIME 100 Summit and published in Politico, said that a primary challenge to Trump “would be a good thing” for America. Corker is 100% correct that Trump has divided this country like no other, and Corker believes that Trump likes it that way. Yet another sad commentary about the man whom most of us wish would just go away.

Ultimately, impeachment is a tough call. Yes, some Republicans are beginning to distance themselves from Donald Trump, but are there twenty of them in the Senate who have the guts necessary to oust him? Republicans have consistently shown no backbone throughout Trump’s “presidency,” siding with him even when he is wrong, even as he works against the best interests of our nation.

Some believe that House Democrats should focus on continuing to push legislation (which McConnell will never bring to a Senate vote anyway) and look toward 2020. They believe that continued investigations and impeachment will merely waste time, but with McConnell leading the Senate, creating legislation will also waste time. The House has subpoenaed witnesses and records without outwardly calling it impeachment, and it may well depend on what they are able to determine and can prove based on witness testimony and documentation. They are handling these issues the right way and time will tell them and us whether impeachment is a viable option.