The Senate trial will shape the president's legacy and also that of his Republican Party
Thursday was a day of pomp and ceremony in the Senate at the opening of the impeachment trial of President Trump. But apart from all the scripted theater, the formalities marked a new and important test for the Republicans who control the upper chamber and therefore what kind of trial the country sees and what history remembers of those who sat in judgment.
The challenge for Republicans is not the question of the ultimate disposition of the case against Trump contained in the two articles of impeachment read into the record on the Senate floor at midday Thursday. That appears to be a foregone conclusion, given the partisan makeup of the Senate.
Instead it is the question of how they will address and digest evidence of the president’s actions with regard to Ukraine that has come out over the past four months. It is not just the president’s legacy that will be affected by the conduct of the proceedings over the next few weeks. It will also be the legacy of the Republican senators and their party.
Will they follow the lead of their House colleagues, who in the face of damning testimony embraced the president’s explanations, that his interactions with Ukraine were “perfect,” and that he was acting in the interests of the country rather than for personal political gain? Or will they judge him more independently, and critically, even if eventually stopping short of casting guilty votes?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-senate-trial-will-shape-the-president-s-legacy-and-also-that-of-his-republican-party/ar-BBZ23ir?ocid=NL_ENUS_A1_20200119_1_2
So Trump is the hill the party of Abraham Lincoln is going to die on. Sad.
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