Impeachment Fizzle Shows Why Democrats’ 4D Chess Doesn’t Work

by Jordan Davidson for The Federalist

The Democrats’ second impeachment attempt against former President Donald Trump is losing steam.

While many on the left gladly embraced the charge to impeach Trump for a second time just one week before he left office, some of the Democrats are less than thrilled that an unlikely impeachment is taking up time on their legislative calendars. 

Just one week after a deadly mob riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the House of Representatives swiftly moved to impeach the then-president for “incitement of insurrection.” Mulitple politicians on both sides of the partisan aisle called for action against Trump, citing the recent chaos in their historic office building and the potential threat that the former president and his supporters reportedly posed to U.S. democracy. They wanted to send a message, and they thought they might have the support to do it.

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was one of the Republicans who adopted the corporate media and Democrats’ narrative about Trump, saying Trump “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack,” an allegation that was met with calls for her removal by her GOP colleagues. Even then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell explored whipping together a group of GOP votes to pass impeachment.

But when the articles of impeachment were tossed over to the upper congressional chamber, the mood shifted. As President Joe Biden was inaugurated without a hitch on Jan. 20, guarded by thousands of National Guard troops who did not experience any of the violence predicted by corporate media or the left, some Republican members became more vocal against impeachment, calling it “stupid,” “counterproductive,” and a “sham.”

“We already have a flaming fire in this country, and it’s like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire,” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio suggested to Fox News’ Chris Wallace. “I think this is going to be really bad for the country. … Not only is this going to keep us from focusing on really important things, but it’s also just going to stir it up even more and make it harder to get things done moving forward,” he said.

Sen. Rand Paul also denounced Democrats’ hypocritical impeachment attempt against former President Donal Trump, saying it was peddled by “angry, unhinged partisans who are … deranged by their hatred of the former president.” On Tuesday, Paul quickly assembled a motion to declare the Senate’s impeachment trial unconstitutional, which every GOP senator affirmed except for Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Ben Sasse, Pat Toomey, and Susan Collins.

All of a sudden, Democrats were faced with the reality that they were nowhere near getting 17 Republicans to swing in favor of impeaching their former leader. The trial will continue, but the Democrats’ plan to “send a message” and fully impeach Trump ultimately failed once again.

Faced with this new reality, some influential senators in the blue majority are ready to move on and focus on passing COVID-19 relief and other bills on their priority lists, something that could arguably be easily done now that Democrats control both chambers of Congress.

“To do a trial knowing you’ll get 55 votes at the max seems to me to be not the right prioritization of our time,” Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said, reported Politico. “Obviously we do a trial, maybe we can do it fast, but my top priority is COVID relief and getting the Biden Cabinet approved.”

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also expressed frustration at the impeachment shenanigans, saying, “I hope that we deal with that as quickly as possible,” so that “the needs of working families” can take precedence.

In yet a second faulty attempt to impeach Trump, the Democrats have succumbed to their weak political ways, hedging bets and taking risks on something that never was in 2020 and never will be in 2021. The former president is safe from their grip, for now.