Kathrine Frich
Trump remains the only American president to stand trial twice.
When a person faces the exact same threat over and over, the shock wears off.
A career-ending crisis simply turns into a casual talking point.
That shift is now on full display in the highest levels of global politics.
Getting used to it
Donald Trump faces a brutal landscape ahead of the November midterm elections. Pollsters predict deep losses for the Republican party across the board. If that happens, the president claims a newly empowered Democratic majority will immediately try to remove him from office.
The topic surfaced during a press exchange outside the White House last week. Fox News reporter Peter Doocy pressed the 80-year-old on his repeated warnings, according to the Mirror US.
Doocy asked: “You’re saying now that if Democrats win control of Congress they will impeach you. But you’ve already been impeached twice, so what’s a third time?”
Practice makes perfect
The response was remarkably casual. Trump framed the constitutional crisis as a routine chore. “Well, I don’t know, but I’m getting good at it, at being impeached,” he told the reporter.
He then defended his own restraint against political rivals. Trump claimed he could have targeted figures like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, calling the current threats a “fake impeachment” driven by spite.
“As you know I had the chance to do it if I wanted, and I said that would be inappropriate,” Trump explained. “But with me they like to do it.”
Finding a historical comparison is impossible. Trump remains the only American president to stand trial twice, having faced charges in 2019 and 2021 before the Senate acquitted him both times.
A grim polling picture
Only Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton share the historical mark of a presidential impeachment, while Richard Nixon stepped down before his proceedings could finish. Now, another attempt against Trump looks increasingly possible as voter anger grows.
Recent surveys paint a bleak picture. A CNN poll from last month revealed that half of the electorate now firmly opposes his leadership.
Exactly 50 percent of respondents said they “strongly disapprove” of his performance. A mere 18 percent offered strong approval. Those numbers shatter historical records for a president heading into a midterm cycle.
CNN data analyst Harry Enten highlighted the severe headwind. “There’s record hatred towards the President of the United States going into a midterm,” Enten reported.
