About two hours after the House approved Donald Trump’s impeachment on Wednesday (13), the president released a video calling for union. Not to mention the process that tries to get him out of power, he strongly condemned the Capitol invasion last week – which he called a calamity.
“Violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country and nowhere in our movement. Make America Great Again [seu slogan de campanha, Make America Great Again] it has always been a question of defending the rule of law, ”said the Republican, behind his desk at the White House.
In the video, released by the official US government account, he also said that participants in the attack that killed five people will stand trial and that he knows new threats are planned.
“Without violence, without breaking the law, without vandalism,” the president asked.
In an indirect reference to the impeachment process, Trump said Americans should “overcome the passions of the moment.” “Relieve tension, calm nerves and help promote peace in our country.”
He also indirectly mentioned the decision of the platforms to block their accounts on social networks. “The efforts to censor, cancel and blacklist our citizens are wrong and dangerous. What we need now is to listen to each other, not to shut up, ”he said.
Trump’s impeachment was passed by the House of Representatives with 232 votes in favor, including 222 Democrats and 10 Republicans. 197 Trump supporters voted against the request and 4 abstained. In total, there are 435 parliamentarians in the House – two seats are currently vacant.
The House had previously approved another impeachment process for Trump in 2019, but it was subsequently cleared by the Senate. At that time, no Republican deputy voted against the president. He is the first president in the country’s history to have two indictments approved in the Chamber of Deputies.
The trial is now going to the Senate, where it will have to be sealed by more than two-thirds (67 senators out of 100) of parliamentarians. Trump is only required to resign if found guilty in the House, and there is still no date set for the trial.
The Republican’s term ends on January 20 and impeachment is unlikely before that date. Even though Trump is already out of the White House, the process must continue, with the goal of removing political rights and preventing him from running for president again.
In the United States, revocation provides for two penalties: the loss of mandate and the prohibition for the defendant to return to federal office, the latter depending on a simple majority vote, also in the Senate, after conviction.
Initiated by the Democratic bench, the impeachment demand is based on the speech inciting insurgency and violence that led to the invasion of the United States Congress by a crowd of Trump supporters.