Trump's impeachment attempt: Four figures explain why he was acquitted in the U.S. Senate
After more than two weeks of senate trials, the House cleared President Donald Trump of the charges against him and can now focus on running for re-election for a second term.
That was an expected and likely outcome with Trump's (Republican) party controlling the majority in the House, but it was the way to come to that conclusion that made this trial interesting.
Here are four figures that explain the story of trump's attempt to try to impeach him, which Democratic lawmakers have activated and succeeded in passing through the House of Representatives, its machinery and what's happening now.
Trump's senate acquittal reflects his popularity among Republicans. If it was not clear before the start of the trial that he had the support of members of his party, it is now certainly clear.
Trump has not been so popular with Republicans (or unpopular with Democrats), with a Gallup poll this week revealing that 94 percent of Republicans approve of Trump's performance in the White House. This figure continued to rise despite his trial proceedings for the purpose of isolating him.
Gallup reported that 89 percent of Republicans approved of Trump's performance during his third year in office, making him the second most popular president among members of his party in U.S. history.
It hasn't always been like this, if we go back four years, we see that prominent Republican figures were competing in condemning Trump, the man who unexpectedly ended up becoming the republican party's leading presidential candidate.
In 2016, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski pledged not to vote for him. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also said in 2016: "If we nominate Trump, we will collapse, and we will deserve it."
However, Trump became the party's nominee and then president, and Both Murkowski and Graham were in the Senate chamber during his trial to stand by him against the impeachment attempt.
The 2018 midterm elections, when many Republican members of Congress who did not fully support Trump in the contest for election victory, proved that Republican voters would not forgive anyone who did not owe allegiance to the president.
The president's popularity does not mean that his supporters believe he will not be blamed for trying to isolate him, and in an Associated Press/NORC research poll last week, only 54 percent of Republicans believed Trump had done nothing wrong.
Senate Republicans have a 53-47 majority, which means they control the House and in doing so have been able to control the course of the trial and direct it to their point of view.
This small difference in the majority investigation is very important here, during the course of the trial, senators had to vote to allow witnesses to testify in the case, and the majority chose not to agree, except for only four Republican members who chose to go in another direction, even if allowed The Council has called witnesses, most notably former national security adviser John Bolton, whose testimony may have undermined Trump's case.
Indeed, four Republican senators, including Utah Representative Mitt Romney, who at one point appeared to vote alongside Democrats and independent senators and agree to allow witnesses to be called. But in the end, all Republicans except Romney voted alongside their party, and none of the witnesses were called and the trial was closed after just 15 days.
This figure would not have ensured that Trump's impeachment proceedings were activated, as his conviction required the support of two-thirds of the Senate (67 members).
This would require 20 Republican senators to vote in favor of condemning their president.
In the end, only one Republican member, Mitt Romney, did so.
That amount of money that the Trump campaign says it raised during the fourth quarter of 2019 brings back the huge amount of money to the interaction and support of Trump supporters in trying to activate his impeachment.
"The president's supporters in party rules and the fundraising reserve that has been raised make his re-election campaign a formidable and unstoppable force," said campaign manager Brad Barskal.
Having thrown the trial order behind him, Trump is now free to focus on his re-election campaign (despite the fact that Trump never allowed that issue to interrupt and influence his campaign).
Have attempts to isolate Trump, his supporters, have further motivated his supporters? Or will it tarnish the president's image despite his acquittal?
We'll find out on November 3.