It’s no surprise to most Americans that the controversy surrounding President Donald Trump has reached a peak in the last two months. Allegations of corruption regarding Ukranian officials were serious enough to warrant an impeachment inquiry in September, which has led to the House of Representatives’ approval of two articles of impeachment in December. American Citizens on both sides are now left to anxiously wait for the Senate to determine Trump’s fate. Regardless of Americans’ support for the trial, it is objectively not justified, and ultimately a waste of time and money by the Democrats.

   Many people may believe that because the impeachment inquiries have gone so far, that President Trump will most likely be removed from office. This is simply not likely. According to the Washington Post, there are 53 Republican Senators, and 47 Democratic Senators, and with a two-thirds majority required, it is not likely that he will be impeached. Thirty-five percent of the Republican Senators would need to vote in favor of impeachment, which is improbable due to their alliance with Trump (washingtonpost.com).

    Even if the removal of Trump was likely, the Democrats’ pursuit of “justice” is still not in their best interest. Trump’s removal would lead to Vice President Mike Pence taking the position of president. Many people know Trump as a radical conservative, but Pence makes Trump look like Nancy Pelosi in comparison. According to the Huffington Post, Pence is responsible for enacting one of the most abortion-restrictive regulations in the United States. His anti-abortion campaign in Indiana led to many Planned Parenthood clinics being shut down, which in turn, led to an HIV epidemic in one Indiana County. His persecution of the LGBT community is also relentless; he even passed a law that protected business owners from punishment after refusing service to LGBT people (huffingtonpost.com). Due to his active persecution of human rights, Pence would be a much worse president than Trump, in the eyes of Democrats at the very least.

   With less than ten months left until the Presidential Election, now is not the best time to remove Trump. He may be out of office for a while, but he is still legally allowed to run for president during the next election. Many people may believe that it would still be productive to remove him because it would permanently tarnish his reputation, and therefore would prevent him from being elected. The main issue with this belief is that, due to the massive division between Republicans and Democrats, there would still be a significant chance of Trump being elected. This should be no surprise considering that the scandals, radical opinions, harsh verbal attacks on opponents, and vulgar language have had almost no effect on Trump’s popularity with Republicans, or at least his base. According to Junior Jack O’Donnell,  “It’s not worth it for the Democrats to try to impeach Trump.”

   Overall, it is quite evident that the pursuit of impeachment is not in the best interest of those who oppose Trump. Although it is very unlikely for the Senate to vote in favor of the articles, impeachment will not allow them to further their agenda regardless. Impeachment will only lead to a more radical politician taking his place, who will ultimately oppress liberals more than Trump ever would. Democrats should consider themselves lucky that Pence is not the president, because the years of progress that have been made regarding civil rights, race relations, abortion, and other major social issues would be completely erased. If Pence had it his way, our society would strongly reflect the American society of the 1950s.

    Finally, even if the countless tedious hours that the Democrats spent trying to find any evidence that warrants impeachment actually led to the removal of Trump, he still has the ability to become president in November. With the popularity that he has, this is very likely. Overall, it is a shame that Democrats decided to pursue this trial in the first place, considering the many problems that plague our citizens. Healthcare is so expensive that people would rather just stay home and take some Advil than seek medical treatment for a heart attack, and yet our government is more concerned with a trial that benefits absolutely no one. The Democrats’ persistent obsession with impeachment truly exemplifies the many issues with our country’s political system.