Following the attempted siege of the capitol building by his supporters, many closely watched President Trump in his last few days in office. Following his historical second impeachment on January 13th, 2021, Trump faces conviction by the Senate. Scheduled to begin session on January 19th, the senate could not remove him from office before inauguration day. 

The complicated process of impeachment commenced after Trump faced claims of inciting violence by encouraging the domestic terrorist attacks on the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. The House of Representatives voted to impeach him with an astounding majority vote including 10 republican representatives. Now their case moves up to the Senate so they can vote on whether or not to convict Donald Trump of his high crimes against the state. Once convicted he would face removal from office and could never run for elected office again. 

As the case moves up to the senate, America holds their breath and awaits the results. With Trump making history as the only president ever to experience impeachment twice, Americans wonder if he will become the first ever to face conviction because of his crimes. 

If convicted, President Trump would lose his ability to run for elected office again, his pension, and his travel allowance. Beyond these honorable attributes, President Trump’s conviction would symbolize the country’s intolerance of his crimes committed while in office. 

Trump’s impeachment would not only symbolize a distaste for his actions from the country, but also hold his supporters at bay. During the January 6th riot, supporters carried zip ties, guns, and knives while storming the capitol with many of them threatening to harm capitol employees. His impeachment would hopefully force them to retire their extreme protest techniques and ideologies after an anticipated immediate backlash. 

His supporters still stand by Trump saying he showcased patriotism and did nothing wrong, despite numerous now deleted tweets and evidence showcasing otherwise. Trump appeared to know of the capitol riot prior to it happening by tweeting statements such as “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” Planned mostly online on apps such as Twitter and now-deleted Parlor, Trump seeing the planned siege on the Capitol falls in the realm of possibility and his cryptic tweets lead many to believe he knew exactly what would happen. 

During the violence, Trump claims he sent out the National Guard but members of Congress deny that, saying Vice President Mike Pence made the call. Pence’s action in a time of crisis also caused many members of congress, citizens, and other government officials to ask him to act upon the 25th amendment and finish out Trump’s term for himself. Pence refused and Biden’s inauguration fell on Wednesday, January 20th, so Mike Pence did not become the 46th president. 

While in office, Trump committed numerous high crimes including using government resources to investigate opponents, inciting violence against the capitol, and abuse of power. Hopefully he will face conviction and consequences for his crimes and not evade them like a child. With his term coming to a close, Americans hold their breath as they anticipate what will happen under the Biden administration.