On Trump's trials & tribulations: 'No coup d’état, just low-grade political theater'

With talk in the air of possible impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, what is happening now in Washington, DC resembles low-grade political theater; political commentators told RT.

Representative Al Green (D-Texas) on Wednesday called for impeachment proceedings to begin against President Trump “for obstruction of justice.”

Green’s speech came as the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives held a news conference calling for a continuing, independent investigation into any potential criminal wrongdoings by Trump and his associates.

The US stock market has reacted to the latest calls for Trump's impeachment, and it is coming at a high price for some prominent people in business: Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates lost $1 billion on Wednesday. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, and Amazon chief Jeff Bezos lost around $2 billion each.

RT discussed the prospects of a possible impeachment with some political analysts.

‘Low-grade political theater’

Charles Ortel, the private investor, and writer said he thinks a partisan group laid a trap for Trump when he is about to go to on his first big trip abroad.

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“Let’s stop pause and have a deep breath here and remember that most likely the gentleman who was the first to call for impeachment was among those who refused to go to the inauguration,” said Ortel.

“This is a very partisan group who has looked at the calendar, who has looked at the fact that Donald Trump is about to go to on his first big trip abroad to a lot of very important nations and he will be out of this country for a long time and therefore less able to punch back. They laid this trap for him and fanning the flames of dissension. It stands in stark contrast to what happened during the election when Bill Clinton met with Loretta Lynch on the tarmac and signals were sent by various people – including Hillary herself – that she was considering retaining Loretta Lynch should [Hillary Clinton] win. Now that is obstruction of justice to my mind… The way in which this process is going down now, it’s not quite a coup d’état, but it certainly seems like a coordinated campaign between the planted story in People magazine where Barack Obama refers to his successor in a derogatory way, and these various coordinated calls for his impeachment, it smacks to me of low-grade, juvenile political theater not worthy of this great country at this perilous moment in time.”

‘Many Republicans don’t support Trump’

Joaquin Flores, editor in chief, Fort Russ News & President of the Independent Journalists Association for Peace, told RT that “there is a stronger likelihood [of impeachment]than with any past president”.

“Trump ran as an outsider, he was elected as an outsider, and really doesn’t have support from the substantial sections of the Republican congressional arena. There is a stronger likelihood than with any past president, including Bill Clinton…This is a very different situation,” he said.

“In terms of looking at who would support this, there are considerable numbers of Republicans who are very much embedded in this neocon establishment which Trump ran against. And in fact, ran in spite of…there are lingering resentments and lingering grudges against Trump, not just personal and political, but real opposition to his overall program that we still see in effect. There is a serious threat and we have known this even when Trump was a candidate that he would face this sort of rhetoric.”

Impeachment is unlikely, but it is not impossible. We just have to see what other charges come out. There is no question that the Republicans for the most part don’t agree with Trump, none of the Democrats agree with Trump... The most recent charge is that he alerted the Russian Foreign Minister in a meeting at the White House of plots to blow up Russian jetliners. Charles Schumer, and others, would far rather see the Russian jetliners blown up... Under the law, the President can declassify anything he wants, any time, for any reason. - Lew Rockwell, Chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute

Lionel, legal and media analyst told RT: “You would be surprised how many people, especially in Congress, think that ‘impeachment’ means you are automatically kicked out. No, you are just charged, you are convicted maybe in the Senate…"

"This president has the Deep State, the invisible government, the shadow government, the ruling class against him. It has a $100 billion media enterprise. Every show, every newspaper, every comedian, everybody is against him. Then the Democratic Party, however important that is, and the Republican Party as well who don’t really like him… They didn’t like [Bill] Clinton, they didn’t like Reagan, even during the Nixon days, but nothing rivals this. The press needs him…[Without Trump] late night television would collapse. The Democratic Party would have nothing to say. He has created more jobs in the media; he is the subject 24 hours a day. And there was a time in this country when news organizations were pretty serious, and here’s the best part: These same people call RT “propaganda.” Can you believe that? They have 24/7 anti-Trump propaganda, without surcease, without hesitation, without a pause, and they call you [RT] propaganda!”