According to Google, “Impeachment” has been the #1 searched word on Google for the past two days in a row, even beating out searches on “This Is Us.”
Wednesday, Google trends showed more than 4 million people had typed the word into the search bar.
So, what does impeachment mean? How long does an impeachment process typically last? And how likely is it that President Donald Trump could actually be impeached?
NBC Charlotte’s Ashley Daley caught up with Dr. J. Michael Bitzer, professor of politics and history at Catawba College to find out.
“It’s a very rare process and it is considered to be a political trial as opposed to a criminal trial,” says Dr. Bitzer. “We’ve seen it in previous times twice done formally, once against Andrew Johnson during reconstruction after the civil war and then again after Bill Clinton in the late 1990s.”
On Tuesday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the House would initiate a formal impeachment inquiry against President Trump, charging him with betraying his oath of office and the nation’s security by seeking to enlist a foreign power to tarnish a rival for his own political gain.
“So, the U.S. House of Representatives has started gathering evidence. They will then submit it to the House Judiciary Committee, who will craft if they believe the evidence warrants, articles of impeachment,” Dr. Bitzer said. “Once that committee brings forward articles of impeachment it goes before the full House of Representatives and they vote on whether to actually impeach or indict the president.”
If the vote is achieved in the House (which is comprised of a majority of Democrats), it will then head to the Senate (which is comprised of a majority of Republicans).
“The trial is held in the U.S. Senate and that requires 67 senators, or two-thirds vote to basically convict, make the president guilty and remove him from office,” he said.
So far, many representing the Carolinas seem to be keeping allegiance to their parties. In a statement to NBC Charlotte, democratic Congresswoman Alma S. Adams (NC-12) said, “I firmly support Speaker Pelosi moving forward with an impeachment inquiry. The President has admitted to breaking the law. He acknowledges working with a foreign nation to impede our election process. This is illegal, unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.”
Others, like Republican Senator Thom Tillis have taken to Twitter, tweeting: “Nancy Pelosi should be embarrassed. The transcript debunks the Democrats’ false claims against President @realDonaldTrump and demonstrates that their call to impeach him is a total farce."
Cal Cunningham, a Democratic candidate running against Senator Tillis in the upcoming election also took a stance, saying “As a former prosecutor, I’ve faced down corruption, lawlessness, and abuse of power in state and federal courtrooms and in the war zone in Iraq. In each case, the mission was the same: uncover the facts and pursue the rule of law. Senator Tillis shouldn’t let his own personal politics get in the way of his constitutional duty to hold the executive branch accountable. I want to see the results of what should be bipartisan efforts to learn the facts.”
Dr. Bitzer says the impeachment process could potentially take 5 to 6 months, landing in the middle of the presidential primary election season, which he says could certainly shape 2020 come next November.