US senate acquits Trump
President takes aim at ‘haters’
UNITED States President Donald Trump’s golden run towards re-election continued yesterday when he was formally acquitted at his historic impeachment trial.
The outcome, with the Senate voting 52 to 48 to clear Mr Trump of abuse of power and 53 to 47 on obstruction of Congress, brought to an end one of the most divisive periods of his presidency.
Within minutes of his acquittal, Mr Trump posted a video that suggested he would remain in office forever, with a fake Time Magazine cover pointing to “Trump 2044”.
He also said he would make a public statement at midday today.
Following on from the Democrats’ Iowa caucus disaster and his well-received State of the Union address on Wednesday, Mr Trump – whose approval rating with US voters is the highest it has ever been – is gloating as his opponents try to sort out who will actually be opposing him in the election.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement that the result in the Senate was “full vindication and exoneration” for Mr Trump.
“As we have said all along, he is not guilty,” she said.
“The Senate voted to reject the baseless articles of impeachment, and only the President’s political opponents – all Democrats, and one failed Republican presidential candidate – voted for the manufactured impeachment articles.”
Mr Trump said through his 2020 campaign: “Sorry haters. I’m not going anywhere.”
Ivanka Trump, the President’s
daughter and a senior White House aide, said in a social media post: “It is time for our Country to move forward. Together.”
“This factional fever and incoherent, ill-conceived process has finally ended and the President has rightfully been acquitted.”
The impeachment trial had consumed political dialogue but ultimately bored
Americans, driving a backlash towards Democrats and raising record levels of funding to the Trump campaign.
It centred on claims he had abused his power and committed obstruction of Congress through using his position to pressure Ukraine to investigate the family of his political rival, Joe Biden.
Mr Trump denied all charges and his impeachment lawyers had slammed the case against him as “flimsy” and a “dangerous perversion to the Constitution”.
The trial was only the third of a US president and the first since Bill Clinton was tried over lying under oath about his extramarital relationships with aides in 1998.
Republicans had characterised the process as Democrats wanting to overturn the results of the 2016 election, and the proceedings played almost exclusively along party lines. The exception at yesterday’s vote was Utah Republican Mitt Romney, who was the only one to cross the floor and vote guilty.
“Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine,” Mr Romney said, in explaining his vote.