Why Republicans won't convict Trump

They'll stand by their man — even when doing so is bad for democracy

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

Former President Trump will once again make the kind of history you do not want your name associated with on Tuesday when his second impeachment trial commences in the U.S. Senate. As with Trump's first trial (barely more than a year ago, if you can believe it), the outcome is not in doubt. But just because we know how it will end doesn't mean the trial won't be gripping. Members of Congress narrating their terrifying Insurrection Day ordeals will be a riveting spectacle. And just as we did in the House last month, Americans will get a quick and dirty head count of how many Republicans value democracy itself more than their own political fates.

Don't get your hopes up on that score. While the political and evidentiary cases for GOP senators to convict Trump and bar him from ever holding federal office again are straightforward, the path to 67 votes is not. Instead, viewers should brace themselves for torturous arguments about how it is unconstitutional to impeach a former president, and some extremely "It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is" galaxy logic about how Trump did not incite the crowd to insurrection because he did not literally say the words "please go and lay violent siege to our national legislature." Gathering more than one Republican in a room these days is a plain invitation to this kind of sophistry.

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David Faris

David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. He is a frequent contributor to Informed Comment, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Indy Week.