On January 13, former President Donald Trump was impeached for the second time by the House of Representatives, making him the only US president to be impeached twice. The former president was impeached on accounts of “inciting an insurrection” by the House of Representatives after the attacks on the Capitol.

 On January 6, a group of Trump supporters breached and broke into the United States Capitol, the home to the United States Congress. On this day, congress members were gathering to certify the electoral votes and President Joe Biden’s victory. The group of pro-Trump rioters falsely believed that the 2020 presidential election, which resulted in Biden’s victory, was illegitimate; this rumor was propagated by members of Congress as well as former President Trump. They attempted to reverse the election by committing an act of domestic terrorism on the government. For the past few months, Trump has repeatedly stated that the election was rigged, stolen from him, and they will get it back; he even encouraged his supporters to come out to the Capitol to protest the democratic process of certificating the votes. 

This attack threatened national security and democracy in the United States of America, and many lawmakers, such as Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Mitt Romney, have stated that Trump should be held accountable for his actions in the form of an impeachment trial. Junior Neha Kalra supports the idea that Trump should be impeached stating, “It is unacceptable for anyone in a position of influence and power, let alone the president of the United States, to consistently spread conspiracy theories and undermine the process of American democracy… He willingly endangered the lives of our congresspeople. He threatened the stability of our state, and for that, he deserves to be impeached.”, Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution states that any person in power of the United States should be “…removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” I believe that the lies that Trump has been spreading for the past few months, which provoked this domestic terrorist attack on our democracy, are a form of “high crimes” and should result in his removal or conviction of power. The House of Representatives delivered the article of impeachment to the Senate [date]. The Senate trial is set to begin the week of February 8.

With that said, a new question arises: following his impeachment, why should Trump be convicted at the end of his presidential term?  

Even though Trump was not removed from power as a result of the impeachment, his impeachment has long-standing consequences. For instance, Senior Katie Jain stated that “if he is impeached, he can’t run again. That, in my opinion, would be a huge relief to the marginalized communities Trump targeted throughout his presidency.” In addition, I believe that Trump’s conviction would set a precedent and send a message to the nation that this attack, and actions similar to his and the group’s, are not acceptable and will be held accountable. 

Works Cited

Baldwin , Sarah Lynch, and Grace Segers. “Trump’s Impeachment Trial to Begin Week of February 8.” CBS 

News, CBS Interactive, 23 Jan. 2021, www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/trump-impeachment-trial-to-begin-week-of-february-8/.

Dorman, John L. “Romney Says That Trump Impeachment Trial Is ‘Constitutional’ and Needed ‘for 

Accountability, Truth, and Justice’.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 24 Jan. 2021, 

www.businessinsider.com/mitt-romney-trump-impeachment-capitol-insurrection-trial-constitutional-2021-1.

Fandos, Nicholas. “Trump Impeached for Inciting Insurrection.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 

14 Jan. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/us/politics/trump-impeached.html. 

Shelly Tan, Youjin Shin. “How One of America’s Ugliest Days Unraveled inside and Outside the 

Capitol.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Jan. 2021, 

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/capitol-insurrection-visual-timeline/.

Slotkin, Jason. “Lawmakers React As Trump Senate Impeachment Trial Gets Timetable.” NPR, NPR, 24 Jan. 

2021, www.npr.org/2021/01/23/959961679/lawmakers-react-as-senate-impeachment-trial-gets-timetable.

Spring, Marianna. “’Stop the Steal’: The Deep Roots of Trump’s ‘Voter Fraud’ Strategy.” BBC News, 

BBC, 23 Nov. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-55009950. 

Story, Joseph, et al. “Impeachment and Removal from Office: Overview: Constitution Annotated: 

Congress.gov: Library of Congress.” Constitution Annotated, constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artII-S4-1-1/ALDE_00000282/.