As the Senate debate over the impeachment of President Donald Trump, ten students and faculty members give their thoughts on the controversy.
Some community members feel that the impeachment is unnecessary. “I honestly think he does a good job being our president,” an anonymous student states. “The fact that people let other things get in the way of that is unnecessary. Impeaching him would be a huge waste and I don’t think it’s a must- do thing.”
Junior Nate Johnston agrees that the impeachment won’t be useful. “People who think that Trump will actually get impeached clearly don’t understand how the process of impeachment work,” Johnston says. “It takes a large majority vote from Congress for any significant action to take place, and over half of Congress is in favor of trump. So long story short, it’s not gonna happen.” Johnston also expresses concern for what could happen if President Trump is impeached, “For all the people who want the impeachment, do they actually think Mike Pence is any better? If anything he’s worse.”
Other community members share the same concern. “In my opinion, Trump is an imbecile,” Freshman Camden Keech states. “He shouldn’t possess the power that he does. That being said, Mike Pence is absolutely terrifying. I would rather have an idiot driving the boat than a gay-hating, homicidal economist.” Freshman Tessa Wagner agrees. “He [Donald Trump] has just become a meme for the internet,” she says, “But he is a joke with power. Even though he is getting impeached, he still holds power and authority. He’s insulted people because of their race and gender, and has made minorities feel unsafe in our country. As people congratulate him leaving, it’s almost as if people are forgetting that there will be someone possibly as equally terrible coming into office. Mike Pence is also an internet joke, but still as fearful.”
The possibility of impeachment also raises other concerns for community members. Josh Wiseman, a first-year transfer student, worries that impeachment will result in some unintended consequences. “I worry that there’s a chance this impeachment will just increase the volume of the conservative battle cry,” Wiseman says, “and strengthen the undeserved claims of victimhood that they persistently convince themselves he has.”
Freshman Kevin Taylor worries that an impeachment would establish an overuse of the procedure. “It creates a dangerous precedent for future presidents,” Taylor says. “If someone like Bernie wins in 2020, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Republicans would try to impeach him just like the democrats are doing to Trump. My worry is that impeachment is gonna become a regular thing for every administration.”
Freshman Christian Delgado worries that the call for impeachment might have been the result of a mob mentality. “I see this impeachment process of President Trump as a sort of bandwagon affair,” Delgado says. “I feel like a lot of people are jumping on this train of impeachment because that’s what is in everyone’s mouth.” Other community members feel the impeachment is necessary. “I think that it’s a good idea for them to at least look into the stuff,” an anonymous student states. Another anonymous student says, “I believe the controversy behind the Russian hacking is the reason why many senators and Congress are placing him in impeachment right now.”
Dr. Claudia Beach, a theatre professor at HSU and the chair of the Democratic Party of Clark County, wishes for a fair decision to be made. “I think it’s a very kind of sad place we’re in,” Beach says. “[It] hurts me that we find ourselves in this place, but I think it needed to happen and I hope—I’m kind of skeptical—but I hope that the Senate takes their job seriously and really listens to the evidence and makes a real decision rather than a political one.”