Does President Trump want to be impeached?
Impeachment could be the fight of President Trump's political life. But this is a president who seems to welcome 鈥� and even thrive on 鈥� political brawls.
Impeachment could be the fight of President Trump's political life. But this is a president who seems to welcome 鈥� and even thrive on 鈥� political brawls.
Dear reader:
Does President Donald Trump want to be impeached?
At first glance, that seems an absurd proposition. A House vote to impeach him for pushing Ukraine鈥檚 leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden would put a permanent asterisk next to his presidency. There鈥檚 even a chance 鈥� though it appears small at the moment 鈥� that the Senate could vote to remove him from office.
Nevertheless, a number of pundits have聽lately speculated聽that President Trump may not regard impeachment as the starkly negative event most would assume.
Sure, it could be bad. But it could also be the fight of his life. And, observers note, this is a president that seems to welcome 鈥� and even thrive on 鈥� political brawls.
鈥淭he circus is the part of politics that he fundamentally enjoys,鈥澛爓rites聽New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure that when he ranted on Twitter about the 鈥楾welve Angry Democrats鈥� and 鈥榃ITCH HUNT鈥� and 鈥楴O COLLUSION,鈥� he was more engaged, more alive, more fully his full self than at any point during the legislative battles over tax reform or Obamacare repeal.鈥�
Mr. Douthat notes that President Trump鈥檚 phone call with the Ukrainian president came just one day after special counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 congressional testimony. 鈥淒oes that president seem like a man who鈥檚 particularly worried about being impeached?鈥� he writes.
Moreover, as Mr. Trump surely knows, impeachment isn鈥檛 popular right now. According to FiveThirtyEight, the average of all impeachment polls taken since 2017 shows about 38 percent of the public would favor such a process, while 55 percent oppose it. By pursuing impeachment, Democrats might wind up helping Mr. Trump鈥檚 reelection prospects.
In addition, an impeachment battle could allow Mr. Trump to solidify his grip on the Republican Party. Anyone who wants to be a future power in the party will have to close ranks, and fight with him.
Still鈥� really? The president must be aware that impeachment is a spot nothing could scrub out. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a dirty word, the word 鈥榠mpeach鈥�,鈥� he said earlier this year to reporters on the White House lawn.
And once the process begins, there is no telling where it ends.
鈥淟etting the cat out of the bag is a lot easier than putting it back in,鈥� GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said Wednesday on MSNBC鈥檚 鈥淢orning Joe.鈥�
Let us know what you鈥檙e thinking at聽csmpolitics@csmonitor.com.
Peter Grier, Senior staff writer