Donald Trump has become the third US president in history to be impeached - and a trial in January will decide whether he remains in office
There’s no doubt about it, we are living in incredibly interesting political times. Just seven days after it was confirmed Brexit will get, erm, ‘done’, America’s House of Representatives has made history by impeaching current President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday night, the House voted on two charges – that the president abused his power and that he had obstructed Congress. It means Mr Trump has become the third US president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives, and a trial in the Senate in the New Year will decide whether he remains in office.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, President Trump’s Republicans have a majority in the Senate, so it is highly unlikely he will be removed from power. Put simply, it means that 20 Republican senators will need to vote against their President in order for him to be removed.
The White House has released a statement saying that the president was ‘confident that he will be fully exonerated’ in a Senate trial.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2019
Back to the charges: the first – abuse of power – stems from Mr Trump‘s alleged attempt to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations into his Democratic political rival, Joe Biden. The second charge, obstruction of Congress, was put forward because the president allegedly refused to co-operate with the impeachment inquiry, withholding documentary evidence and barring his aides from giving evidence.
Being impeached places Donald Trump – whose wife Melania is yet to publicly comment – alongside only two other presidents in the nation’s history – Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.
During the debate in the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, ‘For centuries Americans have fought and died to defend democracy for the people, but very sadly now our founder’s vision of a republic is under threat from actions from the White House.
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‘If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty. It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice.’
Meanwhile, during the House debates, Trump tweeted several times, calling the Democratic arguments “ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT” and an “ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!!”.
He added:
Can you believe that I will be impeached today by the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, AND I DID NOTHING WRONG! A terrible Thing. Read the Transcripts. This should never happen to another President again. Say a PRAYER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2019
History is most definitely happening.
