The Christian Republican's Case For Impeaching Donald Trump | The Odyssey Online
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The Christian Republican's Case For Impeaching Donald Trump

It's not just about Democrats vs. Republicans — it's President Trump vs. the people of the United States.

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The Christian Republican's Case For Impeaching Donald Trump

As of June 2019, only one (now-former) Republican member of Congress — Justin Amash of Michigan's third Congressional district — has come out in support of impeaching President Donald Trump on the grounds of obstruction of justice. Impeachment is an issue that has become so partisan and divisive that Rep. Amash was essentially forced out of his own party for supporting it. But this shouldn't be the case.

Here's why Republicans should support impeaching President Trump, from legal, ethical, moral, and religious grounds.

1. President Trump's actions, if unchecked, set a dangerous precedent for future administrations

Fans of the president support his claims that the ongoing investigations into him and his administration are nothing but "witch hunts" and "fake news." Because the investigations and congressional hearings aren't legit, they say, the president has the power to circumvent and obstruct them. However, if this is the case, and President Trump's actions are allowed to go unchecked without consequences, future administrations — ones Republicans may not support — could take advantage of this precedent.

If that day comes and Republicans call for impeachment, the rest of the country will point out their hypocrisy. And assuming this future president follows precedent, he or she will also likely avoid impeachment or indictment. If you wouldn't support a Democratic president doing it, don't allow President Trump to get away with it.

2. President Trump is antithetical to Christian values

More than 85% percent of the Republican party identifies as some denomination of Christian according to some polls and many Republicans who voted for President Trump in 2016 cited religious beliefs. The president has catered to his religious base and claiming Christian values as his own. But President Trump's actions are decidedly un-Christian-like. He has been involved in several alleged extramarital affairs, the most notable being with Stormy Daniels, which resulted in Trump, then a candidate for president, directing his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to send her hush money one month before the November 2016 election so she wouldn't go public with her story. Trump and his staff have repeatedly changed their story on why the payments were necessary in the first place.

Lying and adultery are two of the Ten Commandments, yet most Christians looked the other way when this was made public. Since taking office, President Trump has not done anything to spread the Gospel and the love of Christ, in fact, by stirring up the alt-right evangelical movement, he has done the opposite. Non-Christians in America are less likely than ever to receive the Gospel as a result of violent and hateful actions by the radical religious movement. While this in and of itself is not impeachable, it's difficult to understand why conservative Christians want President Trump to continue perpetuating a false narrative of Christianity.

3. President Trump is undermining the constitutional principle of checks and balances

The United States Constitution was written for a nation newly freed from the cages of a monarchy. To make sure this wouldn't be an issue in their new country, the Founding Fathers created a system of checks and balances, so that no branch of government could claim power over another. However, President Trump and his administration have wrestled that principle into its grave. The president has made it abundantly clear to members of his party in Congress that checking his authority and standing up to him will not bode well for them.

As previously stated, GOP Rep. Justin Amash recently called for President Trump's impeachment, and Trump responded with an angry tweetstorm at the congressman, calling him a "loser" and a "total lightweight" — something his base was sure to back up. Amash lost support from several of his donors and even gained a primary challenger for his next election as a result of his call for impeachment, after winning his re-election in 2018 by 11 points. This type of executive attack on the legislative branch for doing their job by providing a check on executive authority and overreach is unacceptable.

President Trump cannot bully a congressman for standing up against him. Impeachment is necessary so that the system of checks and balances can be properly restored.

4. President Trump has repeatedly used his personal office for political gain

President Trump likes to golf. In fact, he likes to golf so much that he has spent as many as 180 days in office golfing, often at his own clubs — that would be nearly 22% of his time in office. These golf trips are estimated to cost the American taxpayers tens of millions of dollars so far (over $100,000,000 by some estimates). Not only that, but because Trump golfs on his own properties, his businesses and hotels actually profit off of these golf trips, meaning American taxpayer dollars are going straight into Donald Trump's family's pocket.

Besides golf, President Trump has found another way to profit off of the presidency. He has foreign diplomats stay at Trump hotels when they come to the U.S. on business. A former Mexican diplomat has alleged that it's Trump's State Department's official protocol that foreign diplomats stay at Trump hotels when on official business. This could be a violation of the Constitution's definition of emoluments, which says that no office-holder can accept any "present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state." The definition of emolument includes profit or gain from a business transaction. Foreign countries are being told to stay at Trump's personally owned hotels so that President Trump can personally benefit from being president. Anyone who uses the presidential office for personal gain is clearly not looking out for his country.

5. President Trump is inviting foreign countries into our government

For the majority of Trump's presidency, his campaign and administration have been under investigation for potentially accepting information from Russia in efforts to influence the 2016 election. While Special Counsel Robert Mueller ended his investigation without leveling any charges of intentional criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, in 2018, 13 Russian nationals were indicted for intending and succeeding to interfere in the U.S. election. But President Trump has been decrying the investigation since before taking office as a "witch hunt," undermining the credibility of the allegations. In June, President Trump claimed in an interview that there was "nothing wrong with listening" to foreign governments offering information involving an election.

With these comments, and the steadfast loyalty of his supporters both in and outside of government, he was essentially offering an invitation to foreign governments to interfere in our elections and government. And since he has been publicly undermining the credibility of the Russian interference accusations since day one, if there is interference in our elections in 2020, there is no doubt he will undermine those accusations as well. This will ruin the sanctity and autonomy of the American government as the leader of the free world. Donald Trump is a threat to national security and a threat to our position in the world, and that alone is cause enough for impeachment.

* * *

If you read the facts laid out before you and still find yourself making excuses for this man and grasping at straws for reasons he should remain in office, I urge you to take a look at your heart. What is maintaining your support? He is certainly not governing with our country's interests in mind, and he surely isn't thinking about you, the average American citizen. President Trump governs to benefit himself and those like him. This makes him a bad president. But not only that, he does whatever he can, including breaking the law and sacrificing the American people, to keep himself in power and line his own pocket.

This makes him impeachable. And I urge Republican voters and lawmakers to stand up for what is right, not just what will get them re-elected or keep them in favor with the president. America is counting on you.

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