As of January 2021, a second impeachment was called for former president Donald Trump, for reasons of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’ Since that announcement, MT High School students have expressed mixed reactions. 

On January 6, thousands of Trump supporters surrounded the Capitol Building to protest Biden’s win–claiming it to be fraudulent.  What was believed to be just a peaceful protest turned into thousands of protestors storming into the capitol building and raiding through the senate floor, stealing important documents, and breaking into speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. 

One week later on January 13, 2021, The House of Representatives voted to impeach Donald Trump a second time. This impeachment stemmed from allegations that Trump incited the Capitol raid because of his “Save America Rally” held right before the tragedy. At this rally, Trump urged his supporters to “stop the steal” and head to the Capitol to protest President Biden’s victory, according to ABC news. 

Some students have shared that they are in support of a second impeachment, whereas others claim it to be ineffective. Manheim Township junior Sophie Yost said that Trump’s presidency furthered the divide in America rather than strengthen our nation, and that the second impeachment has demonstrated how his presidency and its legacy has turned out.

“[To me], Trump’s presidency in general has set a precedent of how much a country can tolerate. I think that both impeachments led to the conclusion that this second impeachment is happening because we do not want people to think that presidents can get away with these actions,” Yost said.

Manheim Township Senior Jacob Pongonis said he believed that the impeach has led to a greater divide within our country. “If we want to come together, we have to work together,” said Pongonis. The large number of politicians wanting to impeach Trump creates a paradigm that people only want Trump impeached to prevent him from running again in 2024, according to Pongonis. 

Pongonis said he believed Trump did not incite the raid. “He never directly told [his supporters] to go raid the capitol building and the first thing he did when he heard about the capitol raid was call in the National Guard,” Pongonis said. 

Other Township students hold opposing political beliefs to those of Pongonis. Sophomore Krishna Chinnasamy said he did not support Trump’s motives throughout his four years in office. “Trump acted like America was a company or a private sector in business rather than a country,” said Chinnasamy. He mentioned that the thousands of lies Trump told throughout his presidency signified the turmoil our nation was in. 

After hearing about the impeachment, Chinnasamy said that it “signified that we are moving forward as a nation and that this is the time to heal as a nation, rather than create more division,” 

Junior Vanna Jiang was surprised at the impeachment occurring a second time; however, she expected it to happen eventually. According to Jiang, Trump should have done more to stop the Capital raid from happening, as his actions during the time of the riot were not up to presidential standards. 

“I felt relieved that Congress had finally heard what we were saying, and I’m glad they didn’t let his (Trump’s) actions slide,” Jiang mentioned.

Some Trump supporters said they believed that Trump was at least partially responsible for the events that transpired on January 6. Junior Matthew Kemper, who is an avid Trump supporter, said that the impeachment is a valid reaction coming from the opposing side. “[The Democrats] have a lot of valid arguments for the impeachment and I’m surprised they didn’t impeach him earlier, before the Capitol raid,” Kemper said.

While still being a  supporter of former President Trump, Kemper can be seen to agree with many points made by more liberal students such as Yost, Chinnasamy, and Jiang. Kemper thought Trump had partially incited the capitol raid, saying “a lot of people at his rally took what he said too seriously and to an extreme degree, and that is why I think he is partially responsible,” Kemper said.