By Carol Pomeroy

He was not held accountable when he arranged for hush money payments to two women with whom he had affairs which was a campaign finance violation. 

He chose an attorney general who pushed for a rapid conclusion of the Mueller report and who misled the public as to its findings claiming it cleared this president of colluding with the Russians. In fact, the special counsel investigation uncovered extensive criminal activity regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Because he was president, he could not be held accountable and this only emboldened him even more to abuse the powers of his office. 

In December 2019, the House of Representatives adopted two articles of impeachment against the president for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. This stemmed from a phone call that Trump made to the president of Ukraine to start an investigation of Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, or withhold approved military aid from Ukraine. 

The House of Representatives presented reliable proof that Trump abused his office to enlist a foreign power in corrupting our democratic elections. However, the Republican majority Senate decided they would acquit the president even before the articles of impeachment were brought over to them. There was no trial, no witnesses called, just an acquittal. This just encouraged Trump once again to feel he could do whatever he wanted without any consequences at all. 

Months before the presidential election last November, Trump claimed that the only way he would lose was if there was fraud involved. He told this lie over and over again and riled up his white supremacist base. He did everything he could to impede the election process and suppress the votes of Black people. When he did lose the election, he claimed that it was stolen from him and continued to incite his base of supporters. Is there really any question that his lies led to the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 with shouts of “hang Mike Pence” and “kill Nancy Pelosi”? A second impeachment brought by the House of Representative against Trump for inciting the insurrection resulted in an acquittal by 43 Republicans senators.  

Why in the world would these senators unleash a mentally ill man back on the American people to continue his lies and nefarious acts? I think the answer is obvious. They didn’t want to incur Trump’s wrath or lose his base of supporters —  a  base that consists of, among others, white supremacist hate groups, QAnon, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters, the Boogaloos and anti-government militia groups. 

Since his acquittal, Trump feels he can get away with anything. He continues to say that the election was stolen and vows to seek revenge and ruin the lives of the seven Republican senators who voted against him and anyone else who gets in his way. He continues to incite his base and a very real fear is that there will be another attack on the Capitol or something worse. No one person should have this kind of power. 

Trump must be held accountable for his actions. We must speak up and denounce lies, injustice and oppression. We must speak out and condemn racism in all its forms. As Dr. Martin Luther King wrote in his 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We must stand up.

Carol Pomeroy lives in Salisbury.