(CNN)The conclusion of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial finally ends the ex-President’s stranglehold on Washington’s every waking moment and offers President Joe Biden a first chance to fully exercise his influence and power.
While the coming days in the capital may not be as wrenching as last week — which saw a horrific recreation of the terror inside the Capitol on January 6 by House impeachment managers — they will be even more critical to the nation’s short-term fate. Biden can now claim the full attention of Congress and the public as he seeks to drive through his relief package and end the pandemic, and will make his first official trip out of Washington since being sworn in.
But Trump’s acquittal at the hands of a majority of Republican senators Saturday also proved his personality cult will make him a dominant force in the internal civil war gripping the party in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections. His staying power even while out of office will therefore still have a huge impact on the mood in Washington, and Biden’s ability to bring the nation together.
Prominent Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and potential 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley are already maneuvering to take the party in a different direction. Only time will tell whether Trump’s influence will be quite so omnipresent when he is miles from the action in his luxury resort in Florida and Congress is no longer debating his political fate. And a flurry of legal concerns, stemming from his past business practices and attempts to steal last year’s election could further damage the future political prospects of an ex-President who was willing to destroy US democracy in a bid to stay in power.
The trial showed that the Republican Party is in essentially the same place it has been since Trump descended his golden escalator in 2015. Many of its most prominent establishment leaders disdain the ex-President but remain scared to confront him because of his almost mystical bond with the conservative base. This has recently led the House GOP to legitimize its extremist, conspiratorial wing, by embracing pro-Trump Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — a strategy that threatens to drive away more centrist voters. Members of the House and Senate who voted to convict Trump, meanwhile, have faced censure from state parties and a backlash from voters back home.
