I am not the kind of Democrat who wants to impeach Donald Trump just for the sake of impeachment. Impeachment is a serious issue. By definition, the term means that the president of the United States has committed “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” That is to say, the president is guilty of “the abuse or violation of some public trust,” to quote Alexander Hamilton’s “Federalist Paper No. 65.” Such a leader can no longer be trusted with the power they hold. As Republican Senator Lindsey Graham once said, “Impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.”
I think most of us can agree that from the moment Donald Trump took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2017, he has shown no signs of integrity or honor. From the Mueller investigation looming over him (looking at whether he had been soliciting Russia for help in the 2016 election), to finding out that he instructed members of his administration to lie to Congress, the man has never been trustworthy on the big things. Neither has he shown integrity in the small things either, mocking Greta Thurnberg for advocating for a better tomorrow, smearing Senator John McCain after his death and telling congresswomen of color to “go back where they came from.” The sentiment itself is xenophobic and disgusting, and three of the four women were born in America.
What launched this latest and most serious round of talks was a phone call that took place in July between Trump and the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. In the phone call, Trump asked Zelensky to reopen an investigation into Joe Biden and his family, right after Zelensky mentioned the fact that Trump had “ordered almost $400 million in military aid to be withheld from Ukraine at least a week before this phone call,” Tessa Berenson of TIME reports. CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin argued on CNN July 25 that there’s “very strong evidence that there was a quid pro quo” in Trump’s phone call, pointing to when Zelensky mentioned that Ukraine was ready to buy more Javelin missiles from the U.S. and Trump replied, “I would like you to do us a favor.”
It is obvious that Trump was trying to leverage his power as president to create a smear campaign against Biden and turned to foreign powers to do this. While people will argue the debatable fact that he didn’t do anything illegal, that is not the question being brought up now. What we have to ask is if Trump and his blatant abuses of power for personal gain, his inability to be civilized and act like an adult, and his racism and xenophobia as a representative of a diverse country can be defined as fit to serve.
If you think he shows no integrity and has no honesty, that he lies to the American people, that he is incompetent or anything similar to the above, then you should support impeachment. Trump has abused his position and must go before he continues to exploit the office of president with no concerns for the negative marks it leaves on the United States.
