All Hail King Trump

It is not over. Actually,it is just getting  interesting. As predicted by many close observers of US politics, President Donald J Trump was acquitted last week by the US Senate sitting as a court following his impeachment by the House of Representatives. Impeachments were avenues designed to as processes to remove public officers who committed […]

It is not over. Actually,it is just getting  interesting. As predicted by many close observers of US politics, President Donald J Trump was acquitted last week by the US Senate sitting as a court following his impeachment by the House of Representatives. Impeachments were avenues designed to as processes to remove public officers who committed offences such as corruption and others that compromised the integrity of their offices. In the case of Presidents, the bar was raised higher to include committing  ‘high crimes and misdemeanors, some specific such as accepting bribes, compromising national security and elections, others vague, but still suggesting that serious infraction unbecoming of a US President.

President Trump was only the third US President to be impeached, so that alone made it a historic event. Indeed, all three impeachments were historic, capturing events, infractions and attempts to deal with them in a manner designed  over 200 years ago by men who founded a republic and were anxious that no US President could behave in a manner that threatened the integrity of the office without being held accountable. Unlike Kings who had absolute powers and were therefore above the law, the architects of a republican America wanted all citizens, including Presidents, to be subject to the constitution. A war was fought by the Americans to remove the powers of monarchy over their affairs. With blood and high inspiration partly drawn from Republican France, the founders went to great length to design a nation of laws, superior to all men, irrespective of status or power.

Impeachments of Presidents were tasking, divisive and painful processes. They start only when there is strong evidence that Presidents had committed crimes of such nature as to require their trial and removal from office without having to wait for popular opinion expressed before elections. In the case of President Trump, the Democrats, smarting from an unexpected defeat by a President who then went on to re-design all received wisdom on personal and official conducts of US Presidents,  thought they had a handful of breaches serious enough to investigate and impeach him. A long process was started to establish which breach will  be strong enough to stand bi-partisan scrutiny and convict President Trump. There were many obstacles on the way. They had majority in the House of Representatives to impeach him, but not in the Senate to convict. Partisan divisions had become so pronounced that there was little likelihood that Trump’s fellow Republicans will sacrifice partisan interests and vote for his conviction. There was only a little over a year left before US’s long and complex election processes were concluded. Trump had a strong base of support that was unlikely to be persuaded to abandon him for high sounding ideals.

Still, the Democrats went ahead and gambled for the removal, or at worst, impeachment of Trump. They were acutely aware that they could stoke the fire of more partisan conflicts and the resistance of a massive political undercurrent, which had cheered a new version of American leadership that was short on propriety and custom. The Republicans braced themselves for a bruising partisan war, knowing that they held the ace on convicting Trump. They also realized that  impeaching Trump alone was unlikely to diminish his popularity and the prospect for re-election. Majority saw electoral advantages in protecting Trump, and few dared to abandon him and provide support for a bi-partisan process.

As it turned out, the Democrats impeached Trump, and the Republicans acquitted him. If anyone thought they would see a humble and contrite Trump after his acquittal, they were sorely mistaken. Trump is no Clinton who, in spite of being acquitted, apologised to the nation for what triggered his impeachment. Nor were the Senate Republicans who acquitted him in a mood to explain to a deeply-divided nation why it was necessary to protect one of their own. The trial itself was vintage made-for-television event, and everyone played their roles perfectly. Democrats moved on to hustling for someone who has a fighting chance of defeating Trump. The Republicans adjusted to a new high, a political manna from some basic miscalculations by the Democrats and the climax of a drama involving one person who found the key to freezing the establishment the US political establishment and defying all expectations that he would not lower the essence of leadership of a nation like the USA.

American founding fathers would scratch their heads at Trump. The constitutional requirements to remove him have not been met, but he remains impeached. For this, he is creating an impact that is almost entirely new in US politics. He is engaged in an offensive that will rubbish the Democrats who dared impeach him, and turn his impeachment into a badge of honor that could help him win the next elections. No regrets, no remorse, no apologies. His party has come closest to being a court of a king, bowing and cheering as he decides who is friend, who is enemy. His approval rating are at their highest, putting the lie to the idea that the moral and ethical fabric of US society is stringer than the weakest assault by cynical politicians like Trump who know where to tweak the system the re-design. He has embarked on a campaign of vengeance against people who played prominent roles in his impeachment and trial. He has ramped up his rhetoric whipping all Republicans into line and scaring Democrats who thought impeaching him alone will slow his roller coaster drive towards a second term. The Democrats will spend the next few months responding to one agenda: Trump. Americans are likely to prefer a man who appears to understand the economy, the friends and enemies of the US and one who has little stomach for niceties  of office.

Trump looks closest to what Americans will have if they had kings. No, this is a bit of an exaggeration. By the time he is through with his first term and a strongly possible second term, he would have stamped his persona on US politics and society in such a manner that it will take a generation to reconfigure.

Abubakar can be reached at [email protected]