We are living history.

No matter how you feel about President Donald Trump, there is no doubt his administration is unorthodox. 

And. whether you like it or not, the fact is our sitting president is undergoing an impeachment inquiry.

In our nation’s history, only two presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999. Being impeached, however, is not the same as being removed from office. Neither impeached presidents were removed.

The start of this impeachment inquiry is historical in itself, but even more so is Trump’s response.  

On Oct. 22, the president tweeted, “So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights. All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here – a lynching. But we will WIN!”

The connotation to the word “lynching” is not used to describe a white man being investigated for abusing his power– it’s an awful practice that killed thousands of African-Americans since the start of this nation. 

Donald Trump is not being lynched. Comparing the plight of African-Americans in this country to a Constitutionally sanctioned legislative practice is simply ignorant, and rooted in his own arrogance. Trump is the leader of the free country, and using such a racially connotative word does not reflect that at all.

And Donald Trump isn’t the only one. In a statement from Senator Lindsey Graham defending Trump, he said “This is a lynching in every sense. This is un-American.”

These are our elected leaders. In any English class here at Perry Meridian, your teacher will tell you word choice matters. It’s true for us as students, so why is it not applicable to the most important people in the country?

In addition to that Tweet, on Halloween, Trump continued with “The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!”

Do the Salem Witch trials ring a bell? Another example of innocent people being brutally murdered with no credible evidence. There’s an important distinction to make: there is plenty of evidence against the president.

In any case, how did we get here?

In short, Trump allegedly withheld millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, in exchange for President Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden, a key democratic candidate, and Trump opponent. 

According to an average taken by RealClearPolitics, 51% of Americans support impeachment. Based on the House of Representatives vote for a formalization of the impeachment, 232 members support it, and 196 are against. Essentially, the voting is split on party lines.

The House has a Democratic majority; however, the Senate has a Republican one. To effectively remove Trump from office, the senate would need a two-thirds majority of votes.

No matter the result of this impeachment case, it will go in the history books. Just as we learn about Nixon’s trial and Clinton’s impeachment, the future children of America will learn about the details of our current situation.

As easy as it may seem to ignore the bad news and forget about the state of our union, now is not the time for apathy. However you feel about President Trump, the most important thing you can do is educate yourself on political candidates. Take action. Register to vote.

Our country was built on the basis of voter participation, and if you will be of age come Nov. 3, 2020, visit the polls and cast your vote.