When Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor Tuesday for his opening statement in Donald Trump's impeachment trial, he raised one idea more than any other as a goal for the trial: fairness. McConnell uttered the words "fair" and "fairness" no less than 16 times, brandishing them as a weapon with which to slay his perpetual foes, the Democrats.
"The Senate's fair process will draw a sharp contrast with the unfair and precedent-breaking inquiry that was carried on by the House of Representatives," McConnell promised. "Finally, some fairness," McConnell exclaimed moments later. "Fair is fair," he later declared. Yet the main goal of Senate Republicans is to deprive Americans of the very fairness that the vast majority both want and expect.
Some 70% want witnesses, and 60% have said they "expect" a fair trial. Well, buckle up America, because you're about to be taken for a ride by McConnell and Senate Republicans, who are desperate to curtail both the length of the trial and the breadth of the evidence included.
As we watch the Senate trial, let's remember who did provide a fair inquiry, according to a majority of Americans: House Democrats. Despite GOP lawmakers' histrionic moaning and groaning that Trump was treated unfairly in the House, 55% of Americans say Trump was indeed treated fairly. Once more, House Democrats achieved that consensus opinion after nearly all political prognosticators assumed that impeaching Trump would be political suicide.
In fact, a newly released CNN poll found that 51% of Americans want Trump removed from office. Likewise, Civiqs polling shows that Trump's impeachment is more popular than ever, at 53% support.
As McConnell correctly acknowledged, "The eyes are on the Senate, the country is watching to see if we can rise to the occasion."
At least he got one thing right. House Democrats set the bar for fairness in one the most challenging and polarized political environments the nation has seen in modern times. Now the Senate will be judged by that standard, and merely invoking the word “fair” as a rhetorical flourish ain’t gonna cut it. It doesn’t matter how many times McConnell squeezes the word from his mouth.