Republicans must do the right thing

Donald Trump has made dubious history by becoming the first American president to be impeached twice. His impeachment on Wednesday by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives for his "incitement of insurrection" at the US Capitol on January 6 is well-deserved. There is more than enough evidence of his culpability. In the words of senior Republican leader Liz Cheney, he “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.”

That attack resulted not just in physical damage to the Capitol building but more importantly, it has severely undermined American democracy and taken away the sheen of its global image as the torchbearer of democracies. Trump bears primary responsibility for this immeasurable damage. The House did well to impeach him.

Trump’s trial in the Senate looms. A two-thirds majority will be needed to convict him, which means that at least 17 Republican Senators will have to vote with the Democrats. While 10 Republicans did vote to impeach Trump in the House, getting 17 Republican Senators to do so appears to be a tall order at this point. There is disquiet in the Republican Party over the Trump-instigated insurrection, but his support base is a potent electoral force for the party, which makes many Senators reluctant to vote against him. Many of them have indulged in whataboutery, arguing that the Democrats’ support for the Black Lives Matter protests must be treated on par with Trump’s instigation of the Capitol insurrection.

Other Republicans have argued that Trump will be out of office in just a week’s time and so the Democrats’ bid to impeach him is politically motivated at worst and merely symbolic at best. The Senate trial, indeed, won’t even begin until after January 20. But if the Senate does convict Trump, it will not be of only symbolic value, it will bar him from seeking another presidential term. It will also be a strong message that attempts to dismantle democracy will not go unpunished. The position Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell takes is expected to determine how the Republicans will vote.

Republicans enabled the dangerous adventurism of the Trump presidency for four years. By refusing to speak out and act decisively against his final attack on American democracy, they are giving Trumpism a fresh lease of life. Vice President Mike Pence could have sent out a strong message by invoking the 25th Amendment to dismiss Trump. He did not. Neither did the majority of Republican members of the House during the impeachment vote. Will Republican Senators summon the moral courage to convict Trump now? Not to do so would facilitate Trumpism to dominate the Republican Party.