Former President Donald J. Trump was acquitted in his second impeachment trial with a vote of 57-43, as the Senate fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority necessary for Trump’s convection. There were seven Republicans who joined the 50 Democrats in voting that Trump was guilty of “incitement of insurrection.” The outcome of this reflected the outrage that both Democrats and Republicans felt after the violent attack that Trump incited on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. 

Many Senators experienced the attack first hand as the capitol rioters overwhelmed Capitol Police and surrounded the Capitol during the attack. This attack came after the Democratic Party made a case against Trump that said that he had undertaken an effort to overturn the election that lasted an entire month and then provoked an attack on the Capitol as his last attempt to keep his power. Trump invited supporters to the Capitol in Washington on the day that the electoral college votes were being counted and in fact, encouraged them to physically go to the US Capitol. The attack on the Capitol turned deadly and put Mike Pence and other members of Congress as well as employees on Capitol Hill in immense danger which was the point when Trump violated his oath of office as he failed to defend the United States government against an attack. Five people died as a result of the Capitol insurrection including a police officer and many more people were injured. 

Security footage that had never before been seen of the attack was used by prosecutors in the trial as a basis to prove that Trump had deliberately incited the insurrection by encouraging the rioters to storm the Capitol because they believed that they were acting on the former president’s instructions. The case made by the Democrats gave new insight into the severity of the violence that happened on January 6th. 

Trump’s lawyers used only a fraction of the time that they were allotted for their case as they used various approaches such as arguing that Trump could in fact not be tried because he was no longer in office and that his speech was by no means an incitement of violence because he was protected by the first amendment. They argued that he was using similar rhetoric that many politicians use and said that Trump was a victim of cancel culture. 

Just minutes after the verdict of Trump’s acquittal was announced, Trump sent a statement to his legal team thanking them and denouncing the hunt that had been waged upon him by his worst enemies. Along with this, he suggested that the Democrats’ attempt to put an end to his career in politics has ultimately failed as he told his supporters that, “our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun.” 

The verdict of the trial brought an end to the fourth impeachment trial in American history. The Senators were tasked with voting on a question that had never before been seen in American history which was whether or not to convict a former president accused of seeking to violently block the peaceful transfer of power and putting the lives of hundreds of lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence, at risk. 

After just five days, the trial was brought to an end, partly because Republicans and Democrats had little interest in a prolonged trial and partly because Trump’s allies made it clear, even before the beginning of the trial, that they would refuse to hold him accountable. Seven days after the attack, the House decided to go ahead with an impeachment trial while skipping the customary investigations and hearings. The attack on the United States Capitol on January 6th created an urgent need on both sides to remove former President Trump from office as soon as possible as ten Republicans joined the Democrats in voting for impeachment. 

Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Patrick J, Toomey of Pennsylvania, were the seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump which marked the most bipartisan vote for a presidential impeachment conviction in United States history. While these Republicans joined the Democrats in voting to convict Trump, they still fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority that was needed to find him guilty. The vote proved to be a determinative one for the Republican party as a whole. Since they did not dispel Trump through impeachment, it is unclear how the Republican party plans to transform their party back into what it once was prior to Trump’s presidency.

Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, who had voted to acquit Trump, rebuked the former president and called his a “disgraceful dereliction of duty,” as he pinned the Capitol riot on Trump. This was a surprising statement considering that this is a leader who defended Trump in the trial as he argued that Trump was guilty but that the Senate had no power to do anything about it. Even though McConnell condemned the actions of Trump, he said that the Constitution states that the Senate should not try a former president. He felt that impeachment should be used as a tool to remove an official from office, not something that should be used to go after a president once they have left office.

Former President Trump is the first president in American history to be impeached twice as well as the first president to be a complete threat to American democracy in such a direct and violent way. While some might look at the trial as one that is simply going through the motions, it is much more complex and ultimately vital to the restoration of American democracy.  Trump did commit one of the most detrimental political crimes that a leader could in the history of the United States, and his actions come with consequences.