Impeachment Rejected Trump, Will He Seek Revenge Against 17 Traitors Instead of Next Presidential Election?

On the 13th (local time), impeachment managers from the U.S. House of Representatives, including Congressman Jamie Raskin, held a press conference at the Washington DC Capitol following the Senate's rejection of the impeachment charge against former President Donald Trump for incitement of insurrection. In the Senate vote on the impeachment, 57 voted guilty and 43 voted not guilty, acquitting former President Trump. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Former U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to focus on attacking Republican figures rather than running in the next presidential election following his acquittal in the second impeachment trial. The Republican Party, aiming to regain the Senate majority in the upcoming midterm elections, is reportedly in a position where internal discord could hold them back.

Rahm Emanuel, the first White House Chief of Staff under the Barack Obama administration and former mayor of Chicago, appeared on ABC News on the 14th (local time) and said, "Trump will not run. But he will spend the next two years seeking retribution."

The U.S. Senate rejected the impeachment of former President Trump on the 13th with 57 votes in favor and 43 against.

Former Mayor Emanuel stated, "Trump is targeting all Republican lawmakers who voted against him or spoke ill of him," adding, "The Republican Party did not want to break ties with him, and Trump made a Faustian bargain with them."

Trump's targets include 10 House members who supported the impeachment resolution, including Representative Liz Cheney, and 7 Senators, including Mitt Romney.

Close aides to Trump have also indicated that he may support primary challengers against Republican lawmakers who they believe insulted him, such as Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House leadership and chair of the Republican Conference.

Lindsey Graham, a close ally of former President Trump and Republican Senator, appeared on Fox News and said, "He is now ready to clean up and rebuild the Republican Party, and he is excited about 2022, the year of the midterm elections. I will be going down to Florida next week to meet with him."

It is reported that Trump established an office in Florida, where he resides, at the end of last month to maintain his influence within the Republican Party.

Although the Republican Party rejected the impeachment of former President Trump, they are struggling with how to manage their relationship with him.

During the first impeachment attempt against Trump, all House Republicans opposed it, and only Senator Mitt Romney voted in favor in the Senate, showing unity. However, this time, the most votes in favor came from the president's own party in any impeachment trial in history.

Nevertheless, the Associated Press reported that "this shows that former President Trump maintains a dominant position," and Bloomberg News wrote that "it shows how difficult it is for the Republican Party to break ties with former President Trump."

Polls also show that a majority of Republican supporters back former President Trump. According to a Gallup poll last month, 82% of Republican supporters said they support Trump. A recent Monmouth University poll found that 72% of Republican supporters believe the false claim that last year's election was lost due to fraud.

The Republican Party is in a delicate position where it is ambiguous whether to distance itself from or embrace former President Trump in order to regain the Senate majority in next year's midterm elections and win the 2024 presidential election.

Bloomberg described the Republican Party's situation, unable to either outright reject or fully endorse former President Trump, as a "political dilemma."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.