Since his election, protestors, pundits, and billionaires have called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump. Recent events and Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling have continued these calls at the same fervor as they started. Democrats in Congress have even brought impeachment to the floor of the United State House of Representatives. I am no fan of the President to be very clear, in fact I despise him, but in my opinion, it would be a politically wasteful exercise to impeach the President of the United States for many reasons.

Least of all the reasons is the hypocrisy that the impeaching of the President would represent. Only a select group of House Democrats support the impeachment of Donald Trump based upon current evidence. The same can be said for the Republican push to impeach Barack Obama. The current evidence being used as an argument for impeachment is no more than Republicans had when they called for the impeachment of Barack Obama, only appointees and associates had been accused of any crimes when Republicans began calling for the impeachment of Barack Obama, just like with the current administration. In addition, most of those accused of any crimes in the Obama administration were cleared of charges by the courts and by Congress (think Hillary Clinton), which could very well still happen with those accused in the Trump administration. For Democrats to call for impeachment at this point makes them look identical to the Republicans who called for Obama’s impeachment throughout all eight years of his administration. There are no convictions of any Trump associates (though there are several guilty pleas) and there is no conclusive evidence of collusion between Donald Trump and Russia, impeachment can be discussed when all these things have been achieved. At this point in the investigation, Democrats’ calls for impeachment reek of partisan hypocrisy.

Something else that Democrats must consider when talking about impeachment of Donald Trump is his line of succession. If he is impeached successfully by both the House and Senate, the duties of President of the United States would fall to Vice President Mike Pence. Pence is well to the right of Donald Trump on social issues and economic issues and has something Donald Trump lacks: an ability to govern. Should Mike Pence rise to the Presidency, a far-right agenda pushing for the banning of abortion, gay marriage, the repeal of Obamacare, and the crushing of voters’ rights. Though most of these policies would fail, the mere attempt would reenergize the Conservative Republican base and could get Pence a full term in office. Some will argue that Pence could also be removed from office, but that would never happen. By impeaching a President, virtually all the political capital the Democrats had would be destroyed and they would be unable to achieve the three quarters majority required to remove him from office. Democrats cannot impeach the President, as removing Donald Trump from office would only result in an agenda to the right of his being implemented by an effective pragmatist named Mike Pence rather than an ineffective populist demagogue named Donald Trump.

The message that impeaching Donald Trump would send must also be considered to both the nation and the world. Right now, Trump-style populism is on the rise throughout the world, whether it be Germany and its AfD Party, Italy and its Lega Nord Party, or Japan and its Party of Hope. By impeaching Trump, a martyr would be made for those Parties. It would also send a message that they are not losing power on the world stage if Trump is only removed via impeachment. To the country, impeaching Trump would shows that our Representatives do not trust us to make the right choice in a clear-cut Presidential Election between a demagogue and a real leader. To impeach Donald Trump would be a weak message and would show a Congressional distaste for the electoral process. Donald Trump should be removed from office only through our nation’s electoral process. Impeachment has also become a weak threat to sitting Presidents after the joke of an impeachment process that Bill Clinton was put through, so all that would happen is more Trump-style candidates would run for more offices and gain more and more power. By allowing the people to vote Trump out of office, a sharp rebuke would be sent to Right-Wing populism worldwide, show trust of the American public and allow an elected and more qualified President to take office.

In conclusion, impeachment is not a worthwhile endeavor. All it serves is as a weak rebuke to Donald Trump and populism. It would also cause Mike Pence to rise to the Presidency, which would be a nightmare due to his effectiveness as an administrator and would result in the passing of unfair, discriminatory laws.