Remember in 2019 when the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump? In a blatant display of how out of touch the average American is when it comes to matters of civics, Gen Zers and Millennials took to the internet to celebrate that Donald Trump was no longer president. Yikes! Civics professors everywhere were cringing and hopefully revising their syllabi to cover the U.S. Constitution. That’s a stretch, but we can hope. As we all know, Trump was acquitted by the Senate and remained in office.

Here we are, two years later, experiencing an embarrassing déjà vu as the House gets ready to start President Trump’s impeachment trial 2.0 with about as much of a chance for success as the first time. On January 11, 2021, House Resolution 24 proposed the impeachment of President Trump on the basis that he incited insurrection. The critical difference this time around – Donald Trump is no longer the president.

First, a basic review of impeachment. Impeachment is an important tenet of our system of checks and balances, which is found in Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution. “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The House has the sole power of impeachment, but the Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments and actually remove individuals from office. Two-thirds of the Senate must agree in order for removal to take place. In light of the fact that 45 Senators have vowed not to vote in favor of impeachment, this whole process is DOA and a complete waste of time. By the way, a former president has never, in the history of our nation, been impeached.

So why are Democrats, and a few Republicans, so insistent on wasting their most critical first 100 days of a new Congress trying to impeach a former president? The short and most probable answer – they are afraid of you.

A president who is impeached is barred from ever running for public office again, and as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) expressed last month, that is their exact intent. The Biden Administration and Democrats on the Hill know that the “blue wave” was a myth. Seventy-four million Americans voted for Donald Trump, and while Biden, Harris, and the Dems talk a big talk, they’re scared it could happen again. If they were confident that their policies are truly better and their administration had more support among the American populace, they wouldn’t have to worry about Trump running again. He would just lose, right?

In fear, they are trying to bypass you, the people, by illegitimately and unconstitutionally removing someone from the possibility of public office. They do not trust you and are desperate to control the outcome of our future elections.

They might have sent Trump to the Sunshine State, but half of America voted for Donald Trump because they love this country, respect the Constitution, and stand on their convictions. They aren’t going anywhere. There is no concern that this impeachment trial will result in anything except a colossal waste of time, but it should make us ask why? Here the Democrats are with the White House, the House, and the Senate, and they’re playing defense and a bad one at that.

Why are they willing to waste their time and our money? Could it be that they are scared? I think so. They’re scared of Donald Trump and you.

By Annabelle Rutledge, National Director, Young Women for America