Is Impeachment Really the Best Option?

With Nancy Pelosi’s recent impeachment inquiry, the news has been filled with nothing but what this could theoretically mean for the country.

Impeachment has always been a risky process, no matter the president. It has always been a question of whether or not the impeachment will save our country from a corrupt president or will only result in escalating polarization and threats. Especially in this case, in which most of the people who advocate for Trump being impeached due to allegations of sexual assault, his crass nature, and sketchy dealings when it comes to foreign affairs.

Impeachment can almost be regarded as a Hail Mary type process- either the president will be put out of power or there will be even further polarization in the political sphere. Not to mention, during an impeachment process, Congress is highly preoccupied, resulting in less attention toward the U.S.’s pressing issues.

However, an important aspect of the impeachment inquiry is that it is mostly Democratic liberals who advocate for Trump’s impeachment. But what about who is set to become president immediately after?

The main goal of people who support Trump’s impeachment is to get him out of power, but very few of these people seem to note, or maybe even think about, the fact that Pence isn’t much different than Trump when it comes to his policies. As a matter of fact, many people would argue that to people advocating for impeachment, his policies are far, far worse.

Support for Trump’s impeachment means support for Mike Pence as president. Mike Pence, who doesn’t support women in the military, and called “Mulan” liberal propaganda. Who opted to move money that funded AIDS research to instead fund conversion therapy. Who said same-sex marriage would cause a “societal collapse.” Who threatened to prompt a government shutdown to push for completely defunding Planned Parenthood. Who said that IF government funds should be used toward abortions, it should only be used toward not rape, but FORCIBLE rape, though he did discard this idea after heavy criticism.

This, to me, does not sound like the kind of person that people pushing for impeachment would want to replace Trump. The only real difference between the two is that Trump is brasher while Mike Pence stays quiet in a classic conservative fashion.

With all the energy, time, resources, and controversy caused through successfully impeaching Trump, all that would be gained in the end is a president that’s quieter, but perhaps less appealing in his policies. Is it really worth it?

Probably not.