Déjà Vu or Déjà Trump?
- Legally Speaking
- Jan 25
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 25
Written by Naiesha Yerneni, on February 6th, 2024
Donald J. Trump the 45th president of the United States of America, is planning on running again. In December 2019, Former President Trump became the third president in U.S. history to be impeached* by the House of Representatives. He was impeached on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress* related to his dealings with the country of Ukraine. However, in February 2020, Trump was acquitted* by the Republican-controlled Senate, allowing him to remain in office. The impeachment should’ve meant he could no longer re-run as president.
The Senate trial in January 2020 became a highly publicized event. Trump's defense team argued that the charges brought by the Democrats were politically motivated and made to keep Trump from running for president again. Ultimately, the Senate let Trump go on both charges, with most Republicans voting to remove his charges and many Democrats voting to convict. The outcome highlighted the deep political divisions within the country as many democrats believed that he should not have been able to run again, whilst the Republicans believe he was eligible to, and the divisions have led to many talks on Trump’s possible re-election which is a matter that has been talked about since the 2020 election. According to Merrill Matthews of The Hill, “2024 could be our most chaotic election yet.”
In recent years, according to ABC News, Trump has had multiple accounts of misdemeanors with accusations of assault toward women. He might not seem the best candidate to be considered president, but you would be surprised how many citizens have taken his side. The Guardian stated that since the recent elections for 2024 have started, Trump has taken the lead with Iowa. With about 99% of the vote in Iowa being counted, he had 51% of the votes, which meant he had more support than all the other candidates despite barely campaigning there.
Trump’s potential second term could mean many things for us as citizens. CNN believes that, “If the twice-impeached former president wins the Republican nomination and the presidency, it is already clear that a second term would risk destroying the principle that presidents do not hold monarchial power.” Donald Trump already ruled 2016-2020 with a sort of “iron fist.” As Migration Policy says, he implemented many laws, such as the Immigration Policy, which reduced the levels of legal immigration by halving the number of green cards issued. He even went as far as to build a border between Mexico and the United States, which is meant to stop illegal immigration from happening, although we haven’t seen many results from it, as illegal immigration, although not as frequent, occurs constantly throughout the country. The re-election could potentially cause further restrictions on immigration, which would strain foreign diplomatic relations between the countries. These new policies would also affect immigrants on green cards or short-term visas.
Trump has proven to have a great deal of influential power over the immediate action of American Republicans. As mentioned by CNN, before the January 6 Capitol Hill Riot, Trump had said before that the 2020 elections were fraudulent and that the democratic party was in the wrong while telling his fellow Republicans to “fight very hard.” against any efforts to expand state-wide by-mail voting. After the election, he continuously tweeted about how he shouldn’t have lost and that the system cheated him, making sure the people around him knew that he was supposed to be the president. The *insurrection of the capitol building in Washington D.C. occurred after the rally in which Trump made these incendiary remarks. A mob of Trump supporters attacked the building. This was all two months after his defeat in the 2020 election. Gov Info asserts that, weeks prior to the riot, at 1:42 a.m. on December 19th, President Trump had tweeted: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”. With a single tweet, Trump was able to direct all of the anger of his loss and that of his fellow Republicans toward the joint session of Congress on January 6th. For us citizens, if an event like this were to occur again as president, Trump has the incentive to allow such disasters to occur.
Previously indicated by CNN, Trump, in a speech on his campaign, mentioned, “Joe Biden is not the defender of American democracy,… it’s him and his people. They’re the wreckers of the American dream”. Trump believes that Biden being in office is a threat to the American dream because he is doing nothing to protect it. This may seem brave to most citizens as he calls out the current president for his actions. AP News reveals, Trump even went as far as to call Biden the ‘destroyer’ of democracy. On the contrary, though, this shows that if he gets reelected as president for the second term, he will focus more on keeping up with his “American dream” than on the citizens' well-being. In addition, the idea of Trump being the defender of democracy is not plausible as he was not even able to handle a peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election.
Ultimately, who becomes the President comes down to us citizens as we hold the voting power. Trump can be reelected, and his victory in the election could lead to many unfortunate circumstances for the future of our country. So, if you can vote, vote. And if you are unable to vote, stay updated on the election so you know what you will experience as a citizen after the election. After all, the fate of our country isn’t sealed just yet.
Glossary
*Impeachment: The Senate is a High Court of Impeachment in which senators consider evidence, hear witnesses, and vote to acquit or convict the impeached official. In the case of presidential impeachment trials, the United States chief justice presides. (US Senate)
*Insurrection: a violent uprising against an authority or government
*Obstruction of Congress: makes it illegal for someone to “corruptly” or through threats or force influence any proceeding or inquiry in Congress or by a federal agency.
*Acquitted: to decide officially in a court of law that someone is not guilty of a particular crime
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