EHS Students Share Opinions on Impeachment

Lauren Johnson, Staff Writer

As President Trump’s impeachment trial moves forward, there is less and less information surfacing

In the inquiry, the Democrats of the House have investigated whether or not the president withheld military aid from Ukraine, the Washington Post reports. the inquiry investigated the pressuring of Ukraine by the Trump Administration to investigate Biden and son Hunter Biden, who worked for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma whilst Biden was vice president.

The newest implication to the case is the anticipated release of John Bolton’s new book, the author being a former national security advisor, which has been said to detail inside stories regarding the President’s alleged quid-pro-quo with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July.

But regardless of the outcome of the impeachment, a couple of students have voiced their opinions on President Trump and what the impeachment means.

Jackson Budwell, junior, said that his general rating of President Trump is a “four out of five.” He noted that while Trump could “do better on a lot of things,” Budwell is satisfied with the president’s trade, anti-war and immigration policies.

“I’m most happy with trade. I think the USMCA is fantastic, and I’m ecstatic to see it finally be signed into law,” Budwell said.

Budwell expects President Trump to be acquitted.

“…As for the charges, I do not think either of them are valid for the purposes of impeachment. Obstruction of Congress has never been seen before and is really just Congress complaining. For the abuse of power, it’s silly.”

Regarding the investigation into Hunter Biden, Budwell said that Trump, if anything, had some “personal bias” on the matter and wanted to investigate the business as an “area of real concern.”

Senior Scottlynn Ballard, on the contrary,  is unhappy with the impeachment trial thus far and had a low approval rating to give Trump’s presidency.

“…If I had to put a number on where I would rate him, it’s a solid 40 percent for me. Over these four years, he’s done several executive actions which aren’t just disagreeable, but go against people civil rights,” Ballard said.

Ballard explained that some of her concerns over the years have been the Muslim travel ban, which was introduced in the first month of his presidency, and the transgender military ban.

“And a big thing I have against this is the fact that much of society has grown complacent to the nativist rhetoric that Trump and his administration puts out,” Ballard said. “…He’s created an atmosphere where he’s no longer asking for permission, and he’s no longer asking for forgiveness.”

Although Ballard supports impeachment, she believes the probability of conviction by the senate is “highly unlikely.”

Her first line of reasoning is that a conviction of a president is simply unprecedented in the history of the U.S. She considered the political climate in her answer as well:

“Even now, as John Bolton is getting prepared to take the stand, both senators and the White House are attempting to discredit him and make him out to be illegitimate. The senate isn’t going to condemn trump on a massive scale for the same reason they have stood with him for the past four years: fear.

We have seen what happens to those who speak out against Trump—they are slandered on Twitter, slung through the mud at rallies, declared unpatriotic. Republicans are under immense pressure to keep the status quo, turn a blind eye and follow the leader because to do otherwise in a polarized climate like this is political suicide.”