Donald Trump’s demise just became assured
For some time now, Donald Trump’s demise has been nearly inevitable, and anyone who has paid close attention has been able to see it. However, no matter how thoroughly Special Counsel Robert Mueller proves that Trump is guilty of treason and other high crimes, and no matter how much trouble Trump gets himself into with his own antics, the ouster of a president is still in the end a political process. Last night we saw everything change in that regard.
If you’ve been sitting around waiting for the Republicans in Congress to grow a conscience and do the right thing for its own sake and oust Trump for reasons of right and wrong, you’re under the wrong impression about how the GOP thinks. If you’ve been under the impression that the Republicans will protect Trump no matter what happens, you’re also under the wrong impression about the GOP’s motivation. The Republicans in Congress have one priority, and only one priority: getting reelected.
Last month we saw the Democrats utterly dominate in the November 2017 off-year elections. Most of the Republicans running in those races didn’t stand a chance, as mainstream Americans turned out in droves to punish the Republican Party across the nation for its refusal to put Donald Trump in a dumpster. But none of those races were in places quite as red as Alabama. Last night, however, the Republican candidate lost a statewide U.S. Senate race in Alabama. That’s supposed to be demographically impossible. It’s the kind of thing that just doesn’t happen – and yet it happened.
So now, suddenly, most of the Republicans in the House and Senate who are up for reelection in 2018 are panicking about their own prospects. There is no longer any question that the Democrats can compete in every Senate race, and the majority of House races, in the midterms. Republicans in Congress are seeing their careers flash before their eyes. There is only one chance at saving themselves, and they know it: they have to oust Donald Trump.
They Republicans in Congress want their tax bill. But once that sinks or swims, they’ll be done with Trump. They care infinitely more about their own seats than they do about his fate. They’ll dump him. They’ll oust him either through impeachment, or the 25th Amendment, or by publicly badgering him into resigning. And the minute he’s out of office, look for him to be arrested on various criminal charges.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report