How Democrats Might Sell Republicans on Impeachment

Two Words: Presidential Pardons

As soon as I dropped my kids off at school this morning, I turned off Story Pirates, our morning podcast of choice, and tuned in to NPR to hear the oddly familiar cadence of a staid commentator intoning the name of a member of the House of Representatives. The commentator’s crisp radio voice gave way to the fade-in of a Congressperson using some of the words we would hear throughout the day: “the American people” and “insurrection” and “unprecedented” and, perhaps most prominently from Republicans, “unity.”

Republicans are, of course, threading the needle a bit more than they did in the last impeachment go-around. Widespread condemnation of the domestic terrorism committed by Trump’s base has made it impossible for them simply to dig in and collectively act as though nothing of consequence occurred last week.

This does not mean, however, that Republicans’ rebuttals of Democrats’ arguments for impeachment and removal are any less absurd or disingenuous. Snide whataboutism in reference to social justice demonstrations, and claims that because Democrats have always expressed a wish to remove Trump from office, any attempt to do so must be illegitimate and conspiratorial, have been predictably and tiresomely trotted out by the least imaginative members of Congress.

But these are the strategies of irredeemable Trumpian lickspittles like Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz, who show little interest in governance beyond acting like walking embodiments of a right-wing meme page. The marginally-more-nuanced position has been one of gee-whiz pragmatism, hinging upon the seemingly reasonable question of why we should impeach a president with only a week left in his term.

The underlying rhetoric of this latter approach deploys the sort of contradictory condescension and toxic paternalism that is a hallmark of the Republican worldview. These lawmakers simultaneously say that the American people will be divided by an impeachment proceeding so late in the game—as though they didn’t try to use this same tactic when he was impeached with over a year left in his term—and that Americans need simply to “move on” without adequately processing or reacting to an historically-unprecedented incident. In other words, like an abusive, gaslighting parent, the GOP treats the American citizenry like an emotionally fragile child incapable of coping with the divisions that an impeachment proceeding would allegedly bring about and tells us to just buck up and get over it already.

In the political logic of the GOP over the past week, we are all Schrödinger’s Citizen: at once too weak to weather an impeachment and too strong to be bothered with confronting and dealing with the ills that Trump’s presidency has left in its wake.

Never mind that it is laughable to suggest that America could be divided much more than it already is. That the GOP is suddenly concerned with such matters, after more than four years of enabling and then shrugging off Trump’s vulgarities and norm-shattering and corruption and generally vile approach to anyone who did not fawn over him, shows how unserious such a concern really is.

What these lawmakers want, clearly, is the pretense of a return to the sort of sober legislative processes for which they have spent the last four years barely concealing their contempt: the West Wing television fantasy of serious thinking, rational policymaking, collegial debate, and genuine concern for the American People and Our Ideals—that is, the Democratic Establishment’s approach to governance. Such a return would allow Republicans to more effectively dismiss the Trump era as an aberration, a blip that can be forgotten, along with their own complicity, in the name of “healing” and “unity.”

But calls for unity will always sound hollow when accountability is not a prerequisite. There is little reason to think that GOP calls for unity are not just gussied-up calls for letting Trump avoid a well-earned consequence. Again.

I was able to listen to most, though not all, of the hearings, and was surprised not to have heard any House Democrats emphasize what is, to me, the most obvious and tangible reason that impeachment is necessary. I agree with all of the rhetoric about accountability and sending a message to hypothetical future autocrats who may hope to repeat or refine Trump’s blueprint. But it’s easy for Republicans to wave that away by suggesting that it’s merely symbolic, that it won’t undo the trauma of the Capitol storming or make Trump’s most unhinged supporters any less dangerous.

So I propose that Democrats sell this impeachment with two words: Presidential Pardons.

To my recollection, only Joyce Beatty, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, even mentioned this topic, and that was after her time had expired; her remarks were, unfortunately, barely audible amidst the transitional parliamentary chatter that cut her off.

It is hardly a secret that Trump has explored ways to abuse the presidential privilege of issuing pardons and commutations. And since last week’s act of terrorism occurred on federal property, he would be fully within his rights to issue pardons to the fanatics who committed it. It is true that they will likely not even be indicted until after Biden takes power, but, according to numerous reports, Trump has already looked into pre-emptive pardons. Many legal experts have said that, as dubious as it sounds, it’s something he might be able to get away with. And what better way to reassure and solidify the loyalty of the MAGA/Qanon crowd than to intervene on their behalf?

If, however, Republicans—especially Senate Republicans—buy into the possibility of impeachment and, more importantly, removal, it becomes quite unlikely that such pardons would even be attempted. It’s already been established that the Senate trial would take place after Trump leaves office, and thus after the window for pardoning has closed. If enough Senate Republicans took the possibility of a conviction seriously, Trump would be forced to reconsider. Imagine the almost unanimous outrage that would result if he did pardon any of the insurrectionists in the following week. He would lose what little support and benefit of the doubt that those outside of his most devoted followers are still willing to give him. He would reveal that the die-hards are a higher priority to him than anything else.

Senate Republicans would then be under enormous pressure, perhaps even by their own conservative-leaning constituents, to convict him after he leaves office.

If the majority of Senate Republicans continue with their messaging that, although they are of course shocked and aghast at what happened on January 6, they don’t think impeachment is the answer, then Trump may well try a pre-emptive pardoning stunt for the arrested rioters along with his own criminal associates, his family, and himself.

But if they signal that conviction is a possibility, and that leaving office will not save him, Trump would likely think twice. For all that he claims to “love” his “very special” supporters, self-preservation is clearly the only thing he truly cares about. With this possibility hanging over his head, he would abandon the Capitol terrorists in a heartbeat.

If there’s one thing that Republicans in the House and Senate right now are at least claiming to agree with Democrats on, it’s that the perpetrators of the violence at the Capitol were wrong and must be punished. They must be persuaded that letting Trump off the hook of a wholly-justified impeachment could very well lead to the rioters being let off the hook as well. It’s also becoming clear that some Republicans—including their most Machiavellian figure—want Trump purged from their party. Votes to impeach and convict, with an emphasis on the potential calamity of pardoning people who stormed the Capitol, might give them sufficient political cover to do the right thing and keep their voters and donors placated.

It’s painfully clear that Republican concerns about unity are dishonest. Modern conservatism, despite being an unpopular ideology, has managed to thrive precisely because of disunity. But arguing against the unity position will not get us anywhere.

Warning Republican lawmakers that they would be the responsible party if even one insurrectionist is pardoned or otherwise coddled by Trump, however, just might.

The views expressed above are solely those of the author.