AMERICANS today are almost evenly divided on the issue of whether President Donald Trump should be impeached and removed from office.
The US House of Representatives voted last week to impeach Trump on two articles – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Under abuse of power, he is accused of pressuring Ukraine to announce an investigation of potential poll rival Joe Biden while withholding the release of $250 million of US aid. Under obstruction, he allegedly blocked Congress’ efforts to obtain documents and testimonies.
The voting in the House, where there are 233 Democrats and 197 Republicans, was largely along party lines. It voted 230-197 on the first article, and 229-198 on the second.
The next step in the impeachment process will be a trial in the Senate. There the Republicans have a 53-47 edge over the Democrats. A three-fourths vote – 67 out of 100 members – is needed to convict, so Trump is expected to be cleared by the Senate.
With the two American political parties firmly sticking to their party lines, the issue of whether Trump should remain in office will have to be decided in the national election in November. And the American people today appear to be evenly divided.
The website Five Thirty Eight compiled a number of survey results and came up with the average finding that 47 percent supported Trump’s removal by impeachment and 47 percent opposed it. A poll by the Washington Post-ABC found an overwhelming 82 percent of Democrats in favor and 13 percent opposed to removing Trump. Among Republicans, it was almost the reverse – 82 percent opposed and 18 percent in favor of removal. Among independents, it was 47 percent for removal and 19 percent against.
A CNN poll found 50 percent for removing Trump, unchanged since since October. CNN, however, pointed out that n 1998, the highest percentage in public surveys for President Bill Clinton’s removal was 29 percent. A poll in 2006 found 30 percent of Americans wanted President George W. Bush out. And in a poll in 2014, the figure against President Barack Obama was 33 percent.
In comparison, 50 percent of Americans are against Trump today, CNN said. This is not good news for him as he faces the American electorate in November, CNN said.
Our continuing interest in the Philippines in the American elections is due partly to our long historical association with that country. But it also arises out of concern for whatever happens in the world’s top economic and military force in the world today. In so many other countries, people have sought to resolve their differences with their government and among themselves with war as in Syria and street fighting as in Hong Kong, Iran, and Chile.
There is today a deep divide among the people of the US but they have processes to resolve the problem – impeachment and, if that fails, elections. We are confident – and the rest of the world shares in the hope – that US will resolve its ongoing problems with these established processes.
