Where else than in the Senate could have been found a tribunal sufficiently dignified, or sufficiently independent (…) to preserve, unawed and uninfluenced, the necessary impartiality between an individual accused, and the representatives of the people, his accusers?

Alexander Hamilton, 1788

When the Founding Fathers chose the Senate to adjudicate in impeachment trials, they could never have anticipated that one day, politicians would be so divided according to party lines that their judgment would be compromised by party interests. The outcome of the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump and the response of the American political system to the COVID-19 crisis demonstrate just that.

A Hijacked Republican Party

During the impeachment trial, the phrase “no one is above the law” was mentioned 60 times, while “sad day” and “sham” were both used 29 times. Accordingly, whereas Democrats were guided by a firm belief that they were doing the right thing, Republicans claimed relentlessly that impeachment was a hoax and a desperate attempt to remove a legitimate president.

As expected, when the time came, voting fell overwhelmingly along party lines. Senator Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican Presidential Nominee, was the only one who stepped a toe off the Republican line by voting in favour of the first article of impeachment, which accused President Trump of abuse of power. The reactions to this decision on the Republican side accurately portray the level of nativism American politics has reached. Even Senator Romney’s Ronna McDaniel, his niece as well as the chair of the Republican National Committee, publicly rebuked her uncle on Twitter. Predictably, President Trump resorted to Twitter as well to denounce Romney as “a secret asset of the Democratic Party.”

But Mitt Romney was not the only target of President Trump’s wrath. Soon after the end of the impeachment trial, Coronel Vindman, the former Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council, and who was required by law to give his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee during the process of impeachment was escorted out of the White House. Similarly, Gordon Sondland, who was the United States Ambassador to the European Union and who also accepted to testify before Congress, was fired. In stark contrast, those who stood by Trump’s side from the start were promptly rewarded for their good behaviour. “Mitch McConnell, (…) you did a fantastic job”, Trump said at an event at the White House the day after his acquittal.

During the impeachment process, Republicans refused to listen to new witnesses that could have brought to light further information about Trump’s actions and help Senators and Americans themselves reach a more informed decision–which would have been crucial. The point to which the party is now submissive to one of the most, if not the most, polarising Presidents in the history of the United States is astounding. Republicans have stood by his side whenever necessary and continue to believe that they need to fall in line behind him in order to win, even when  American democracy is at stake by doing so.

Ghosts of Our Recent Past

With the government struggling to contain the outbreak of coronavirus, partisanship is back stronger than ever. This harrowing pandemic has effectively become part of an on-going partisan war between Republicans and Democrats. Moreover, under the rule of a thoroughly incompetent President, the shortcomings of the American political system are on full display.

The Republican Party, with a few exceptions, has downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19 since the beginning while standing by a President that incites public outrage against Democratic state governors who have implemented social distancing and movement restrictions. Additionally, just as the world witnessed during the impeachment trial, facts are now alternative and dependent upon one’s political stance. With support from Republican-aligned media channels, President Trump has contributed to an overwhelming misinformation campaign. From blaming the Obama administration for the lack of medical supplies to combat the rapid spread of the disease, to claiming to possess full authority as President, these statements are seriously damaging people’s ability to discern what is true from what is false.

Furthermore, by promoting the reopening of the economy amid a health crisis with unprecedented death rates in the country, the Republican party and the incumbent President have successfully turned this pandemic into a political war that has further polarised a country already deeply divided. Impeachment had shown already how rigid party lines had become. At the time, 88% of Democrats were in favour of Trump’s removal from office, while 82% of Republicans were against it–according to data collected by Statista. Currently, the increasingly bitter divide is between those who claim the economy should reopen, overwhelmingly supporters of the Republican party, and those who believe that the spread of COVID-19 should be under control before other decisions are made, what most Democratic supporters defend.

Two sides of the same coin

The challenges facing the American political system that were brought to light during the impeachment trial did not disappear the moment President Trump was acquitted. They have been made clearer than ever as the U.S. government struggles to conceive of an effective strategy to tackle a global pandemic. Additionally, the COVID-19 emergency has brought to light a new reality that the impeachment trial proceedings had tried to warn us about: the American political system is in crisis. 

Even though radical partisanship was already striking during the second mandate of the Obama administration, after four years of Donald Trump as President, the situation has worsened alarmingly. At a time in which unity is most needed, the Republican party’s abdication of its responsibilities to uphold democracy has led to a situation of paralysis that has unabled the American political system, which relies heavily on consensus-building and compromise, from being effective.

During the impeachment trial, Senators did not come together to reach an informed decision based on facts, but rather let their political affiliation decide the outcome of what should be an apolitical process. Today, facing a national emergency, the Republican party is aiming to profit politically from a disastrous situation rather than focusing on saving lives. With polarisation defining each new challenge facing the American political system, the once most-respected democracy of the world is in peril.