@jontyson
ALYSON OLIVER
campus editor
Former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial and eventual acquittal stirred mixed reactions among TCC students.
“You should be held accountable for your actions no matter what they are and when they were,” TCC student Brant Timberman said.
Whereas TCC student Barbara Kadow said the charge was dead on arrival.
“Free speech is not a crime,” she said.
Trump’s impeachment trial was spurred on by the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to The New York Times, for which some people think he should be held responsible.
Kadow said Trump was not encouraging violence by telling his supporters to fight for the win.
“He said peacefully, do these things,” she said. “There is no merit to the case.”
However, TCC student Kenneth Pascua said Trump directly contributed to the events by assembling people in Washington D.C. and riling them up. He said Trump’s efforts to subdue the rioters were ineffective, and he hardly made an effort to stop them.
In the U.S. impeachment process, the House Judiciary Committee recommends articles for impeachment. If the House of Representatives approves them, the Senate holds a trial where they act as the jury. If two-thirds of the Senate vote to convict, the defendant is removed and banned from holding public office.
Kadow said the impeachment would be unconstitutional because it means removal from office, and the Senate has no legal power over private citizens.
Trump is fit to hold office again because millions of people know he cannot be bought by anyone, and he does what’s right rather than trying to benefit himself, Kadow said.
“His only goal is to put Americans first,” she said.
But Pascua said impeachment should not only exist as a check on executive power but as a threat to anyone who abuses their power. They shouldn’t receive protection outside of the office, he said.
“There is now a significant portion of the American population that openly supported an insurrection against a peaceful transfer of power,” he said. “This is unforgivable.”
Kadow said she’s been following the process with news sources such as Fox News and the Golden State Times. Timberman has used CNN and live streams on YouTube and Pascua has used foreign news outlets such as BBC.
TCC student Evelyn Martinez said while she followed Trump’s first impeachment trial, she hasn’t followed this one because she fears he’ll get away with what he has done.
“It is absolutely embarrassing what our country has been through these four years that he has been in office,” Martinez said.
Timberman said he thinks things are going badly for Trump. He said his lawyers are scrambling, and he hopes Trump is at least disallowed from running for public office.
Pascua said he thinks the impeachment will probably not happen due to a lack of support in the Senate, even though the Democratic party seems to “want their pound of flesh.”
“I hope they get it, but I know they won’t,” he said.
“It takes 67 votes to be convicted, 45 senators already said it was unconstitutional and won’t change their vote,” Kadow said.
The trial concluded on Feb. 13.
