The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer and some Republicans are getting nervous.
asserted
Republicans → get → ?
After a long stretch of impunity, it’s impeachment season in the US.
asserted
it → ’ → US
While the attempt to impeach the defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, failed yesterday, Donald Trump may be worried he’s next.
uncertain
he → impeach → secretary
In January, the president warned Republicans that they had better win the November elections or he would be in big trouble.
asserted
he → warn → trouble
“If we don’t win the midterms … they’ll find a reason to impeach me,” Trump said.
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Trump → win → me
He repeated this plea to voters during an October rally in Oklahoma: “Pretend I’m running, please.
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I → repeat → Oklahoma
And if we don’t win, they’ll end up impeaching me.
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they → win → me
I don’t need to tell you what happened with the midterms, do I?
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I → need → midterms
The Republicans didn’t just lose – they were given a thrashing so thorough that, for a while, Trump seemed to avoid talking about it.
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Trump → lose → it
Indeed, in his first public appearance after the election, Trump largely avoided the issue for a full 20 minutes while talking about his beloved White House ballroom project, rhapsodising about its “magnificent” columns.
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Trump → avoid → columns
This week, Trump seems to have moved on to another obsession: he is now making baseless claims that the election was rigged.
uncertain
election → seem → claims
Still, while Trump may be in la-la land half the time, in his moments of lucidity you have to imagine he’s worried a comeuppance is coming.
uncertain
comeuppance → have → lucidity
There are various ways Trump could be held accountable for any alleged crimes, but what he seems most worried about right now is potential impeachment.
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seems → be → what
It’s a multistep process used to charge a public official with serious misconduct and remove them from office.
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It → ’ → office
First, articles of impeachment are brought, then the House votes on whether to adopt these articles via a majority vote.
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House → bring → vote
If that happens, the person is impeached.
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person → happen → ?
But this is where things get tricky.
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things → get → ?
For the official to get removed, the Senate has to hold an impeachment trial and two-thirds of members (67 senators) have to find them guilty; a tough hurdle to clear.
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them → remove → members
There have only been eight cases where this has happened and all the officials removed have been judges.
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officials → happen → ?
Trump has already made history by being the only president to have been impeached twice: in 2019 and 2021.
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Trump → make → 2019
In both cases the Senate acquitted him.
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Senate → acquit → him
But now that Democrats have control of government, could Trump become the first president to be removed from office through impeachment?
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Trump → have → impeachment
The short answer is that, while it’s not impossible, it’s unlikely.
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it → ’ → ?
The Democrats have a majority, but they still only have 54 seats.
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they → have → seats
Attempting to remove Trump would be a gruelling process that many don’t have the appetite for.
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many → attempt → appetite
Kamala Harris said recently: “Going in the direction of impeachment is not a good idea … we have limited resources and I think the energy and the resources need to be put into accountability, need to be put into investigations.”
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energy → say → investigations
In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Senator Bernie Sanders went even further.
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Sanders → go → Sunday
“We cannot spend all of our time investigating Trump,” Sanders said.
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Sanders → spend → Trump
“We have to stand up for working-class families, make a real difference in their lives.”
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We → have → lives
Hear me out: how about we do both?
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we → hear → both
And look, if impeachment is unrealistic, we can get a little creative and come up with other ways to give Trump and his lackeys a small taste of the misery they have inflicted on the rest of us.
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they → look → us
I would suggest exiling the president to an island and forcing him to listen to his incoherent speeches on a nonstop loop, but I suspect he’d quite enjoy that.
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he → suggest → that
Although we could fill the place with wind turbines, which enrage him, and make sure the water is filled with sharks.
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water → fill → sharks
Trump is weirdly obsessed with the fish; according to Stormy Daniels he once said: “I hope all the sharks die.”
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sharks → obsess → Daniels
Oh dear, I think I’d better stop there before I have the FBI knocking on my door.
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FBI → think → door
If the legal system fails us, let’s just focus on replacing him at the next election.
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’s → fail → election
The Aporia
