On Saturday, February 13, former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial ended when seven Republican senators and all 50 Democratic senators voted to convict him for “incitement to insurrection” — which was a majority of senators voting “guilty” but was still ten votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for a conviction in an impeachment trial. A talking point coming from some far-right pundits is that Trump has once again been exonerated, but in an article published by USA Today on February 15, journalist David Jackson stresses that history is likely to judge Trump quite unfavorably.
During Trump’s second impeachment trial, Democratic impeachment managers — including Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland — presented a mountain of damning evidence showing that Trump encouraged the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol Building by a mob of far-right insurrectionists, including members of the Proud Boys, militia extremists and supporters of the QAnon conspiracy cult.
Author/historian Brenda Wineapple, author of the book, “The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation,” told USA Today, “(Trump) knew exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it. Trump moved from demagoguery to tyranny.” Continue reading.