 |
| Crowd of Trump supporters marching on the U.S. Capitol, January 6, 2021 - TapTheForwardAssist, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons - |
President Trump, as well as several Republican lawmakers, are under fire due to the January 6th Insurrection, with the president himself accused of inciting the mob violence which interrupted the Congressional confirmation of the Electoral College vote. Earlier that day, the president held a rally with his supporters during which he addressed his supporters in a way legal experts say amounts to incitement of violence. Now Trump faces becoming the first U.S. president in history to be impeached twice, while Senators Cruz and Hawley are being called on to resign due to their rhetoric and objections to the Electoral College vote.
Speaking of senators, Senators Loeffler and Perdue have lost their run-off races to Warnock and Ossoff, turning both Georgia Senate seats blue. U.S. Senator-elect Warnock, a reverend from the same church as Martin Luther King Jr., will be making history as well, being elected the state's first Black senator in history.
Meanwhile, the Georgia results have continued to be overshadowed by the President's activities. Allegations of inciting the insurrection from both Democrats and Republicans have done more than cause an impeachment possibility. Twitter, a hallmark of President Trump's term in office, suspended the world leader's account on January 8, 2021 "due to the risk of further incitement of violence." Similar measures were taken by Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, Shopify, and even Pinterest as well, leaving the president with virtually no social media platforms left, though reports from multiple news outlets indicate that the Twitter ban was the one that upset Trump the most.
Another social media shakeup took place over the weekend as the networking app Parler got removed from the App Store and the Google Play Store. The conservative site had been experiencing a rampant spread of physical threats, and due to Parler's promise of "unrestricted free speech," the threats went unmoderated and caused the tech giants to take action. Shortly after, Parler got knocked down again, this time by their web hosting provider, when Amazon announced it would remove the app from its services due to the dangerous rhetoric. Amazon had flagged 98 instances of the type of content at fault. Now Parler faces going offline until they are able to find a new web host.
As if everything above was not enough, resignations have been flurrying about the Trump administration in response to the Capitol riot. Two notable resignations include Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Secretary of Education Betsy Devos. Both Cabinet officials had served in the administration for years, but the violent rhetoric forced them away just under two weeks before the end of Trump's term in office. Some have speculated the reason for leaving could also be the hesitancy to be involved in the possible use of the 25th Amendment, which is another threat to the Trump Presidency. Other officials have been encouraged to stay on despite reports of more resignation considerations, in order to help assist with the peaceful transition of power.
So, what's next?
Monday, January 11, 2021 the House of Representatives is scheduled to meet. During that session or in the days to follow is when articles of impeachment are expected to be brought to a vote, and legislation dealing with the 25th Amendment has also been considered. If impeachment goes through, which is likely, it would then go to the Senate for a trial which could very well happen after inauguration day. Unlike the first impeachment though, it seems like more Republican senators than just Mitt Romney may be likely to convict. Many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress are angry about the Capitol siege and the danger it put them in, and a growing number are being vocal about their feelings. Senator Sasse, for example, said he would consider impeachment while Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger has endorsed the use of the 25th amendment for the president's removal. In addition, Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania stated he believes Trump has committed impeachable offenses, while the senator with the strongest words has been Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
"I want him to resign. I want him out. He has caused enough damage, ... I think he should leave. He said he’s not going to show up. He’s not going to appear at the inauguration. He hasn’t been focused on what is going on with COVID. He’s either been golfing or he’s been inside the Oval Office fuming and throwing every single person who has been loyal and faithful to him under the bus, starting with the vice president. He doesn’t want to stay there. He only wants to stay there for the title. He only wants to stay there for his ego. He needs to get out. He needs to do the good thing, but I don’t think he’s capable of doing a good thing," - Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Trump, January 8, 2021
With President Trump losing the backing of numerous GOP officials, facing an impending impeachment, and the chance of a Senate conviction seemingly increasing, Donald Trump should feel rather lucky to be banned from social media. It appears to be in the president's best interest to simply be quiet until the end of his term.