Disloyalty is a two-way street.
President Trump was not only disloyal to the Republican Party, he was also disloyal to the Constitution and the American people, especially the 75 million people who voted for him.
The Republican Party owes no loyalty to him.
I used to think that Trump was like Andrew Jackson. Now, it seems like he is more like Aaron Burr. At the end of his career, Burr was charged for treason for trying set up a separate republic out of Louisiana Territory and parts of Texas.
I am not sure if Trump will be charged with treason or not. I would like to see a thorough investigation into what went down on Jan. 6.
What we do know now is that Trump tried to intimidate his vice president, tried to intimidate the Congress, tried to intimidate the secretary of state of Georgia into doing things that were extra-Constitutional. I get that he was upset that he lost. I get that he thinks the election was stolen from him. But we have a process for adjudicating those claims. And in every step of that process, he lost. Game over.
I think it is a mistake that the Democrats are rushing to impeach the president before he leaves office. I think it cheapens the impeachment process and I think it will make Mr. Trump a martyr.
I also believe that the more we investigate this sordid episode, the worse it will be for the president. By doing a partisan impeachment, it will most likely stunt that investigation.
To thoroughly investigate the assassination of Jack Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson created the Warren Commission. We might need a Roberts Commission to investigate what happened on Jan. 6, 2020.
2020 is the year of violent extremism on both sides of the ledger. Don’t forget that Mr. Trump had to retreat to an internal White House bunker because there was reason to believe that the fence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue could be breached by left-wing anti-fascists and BLM activists.
And mostly peaceful protests led to stores being looted and livelihoods destroyed in big cities throughout the country. Militants set up their own breakaway republic in Portland, Ore., for example.
So, to get Republicans on board, I would be in favor of expanding the investigation to include questions about who funds extremists of all stripes, why people become radicalized in the first place, and what steps can be taken to counter dangerous conspiracy theories while not trampling the First Amendment rights on an increasingly angry and disconnected American people.
I predicted last March that extended lockdowns would fray the social bonds that keep America together. But I didn’t realize it would get this bad. Lockdowns and mask mandates directly fueled the anger of many of those who came to Washington, at the president’s invitation, to “stop the steal.”
We know there was no steal to stop, and that the president was engaging in a fanciful and malicious effort to lie to his supporters so that they might get Republicans to overturn a Constitution that he and they are sworn to defend.
Republicans now must carefully and methodically disassociate themselves from Trump the person. I supported Trump when he won the nomination and when he won the presidency because I think he spoke to the concerns of many disaffected working-class Americans who felt that they didn’t have a voice in our political system.
The Republican Party can still represent those voters effectively, more effectively without Trump. They can still fight for better trade deals, more worker-friendly immigration policies, small-business deregulation, and pro-growth and pro-family tax policy. Not having Trump around might help them to better frame the issues, without all the Twitter distractions.
The Republican Party owes no loyalty to Donald Trump. He should be pariah for the dangerous nonsense he perpetrated on the People’s house and on our Constitution.
Feehery is a partner at EFB Advocacy and blogs at www.thefeeherytheory.com. He served as spokesman to former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), as communications director to former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) when he was majority whip and as a speechwriter to former House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.).