Reference News Network reported on February 10th that Spain’s El País published an editorial entitled Impeachment of Trump: A Trial Must Be Conducted on February 9. The full excerpt is as follows:
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to start the historic political trial against former President Trump on the 9th local time.” The seriousness of the charge of inciting rebellion against American democracy makes this impeachment trial extraordinary.
It is not only about the personal consequences of the former president – in case of conviction, he will be disqualified from running for office again – but more importantly, through this trial will send a message to American society and the world whether the American mechanism is solid.
Trump was accused of playing a decisive role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6 local time. A few minutes before the incident, Trump talked about his supporters not far from the Capitol, and then these people rushed into the Capitol to try to end Congress’s certification of the legitimately elected president.
During those hours, the United States experienced painful suffering, while the indifferent Trump refused to ask his supporters to stop this regrettable violation. In the face of these facts, political censorship of Trump is an inevitable Western democratic obligation.
Therefore, the impeachment trial should not be regarded as a Democratic liquidation of Trump or as a political revenge for the fallen tree, but as an act of Western democratic catharsis, although there is a risk of continuing to exacerbate social polarization.
Impeachment will prove that acts like Trump cannot escape Western democratic surveillance and force Republicans to show their current purpose. In the last Congress, the Republican Party violated its own principles and refused to accept criticism, becoming the default guarantor of Trump’s excessive behavior.
As the abyss of the coup approach, the main leaders of the Republican Party wisely distanced themselves from their leaders’ anti-Western democratic initiatives at the last minute.
Now in the new Congress, some Republicans have voiced against Trump. This is rare in impeachment proceedings, but they are still a very small minority of Republicans, which makes Trump nearly zero chance of being convicted.
Most Republican senators have announced that they will vote against impeachment on the grounds that impeachment is a legal tool to take action against the incumbent president, not on the departing president.
This reason sounds more like an excuse.
The end of Trump’s administration deserves maximum political condemnation. His behavior is not worthy of the public power granted to him by citizens. Perhaps a very orthodox part of the Republican leadership knows this internally, but unfortunately, they seem to decide to consider party interests first rather than protect Western democracy.
However, this will not weaken the significance of impeachment. Although the possibility of Trump being convicted is very small, and despite the strong boredom of the Trump era and the desire to turn the page, the trial still plays a vital role in describing the American-style democratic status quo and the values of each political party.
