Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Chicago
The Democrat-led lower house of Congress has forced a second impeachment trial in the Senate for ex-president Donald Trump on charges of “incitement of insurrection”, following the deadly protests inside Capitol Hill on January 6th.
There is seemingly no chance that a super-majority two-thirds of the Senate - which is evenly spit between both parties - will vote to convict Trump this time, either. Recent polls show America is almost evenly split on if Trump deserves a conviction, meaning the trial will be yet another highly-divisive political event.
Analysts suggest that Democrats may be pushing the trial as a way to weaken the Republican Party: by forcing Republicans to openly choose between pro-Trump and anti-Trump factions, conservatives could be weakened by infighting for years.
Trump remains incredibly popular among Republicans, but a conviction would forbid him from holding office and running for president in 2024. Given the record anger, disunity and polarization, many wonder if a successful conviction could backfire and provoke even greater problems.
New president Joe Biden is being criticized for allowing Congress to focus on a trial instead of creating legislation to cope with a raging pandemic and a once-in-a-century economic disaster. Many fear the controversial trial will eliminate willingness for bipartisanship in a Congress in which Democrats have only a very slim margin of control.
Biden’s primary aim of his first 100 days is to attempt to undo four years of Donald Trump’s policies. That’s a different agenda than Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first 100 days in 1933, when amid similar economic catastrophe he rolled out 15 pieces of major legislation to begin the so-called “New Deal” and economic recovery.
The trial will begin on February 8th, and must dominate the proceedings of Congress until its conclusion weeks later.
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