(L-R) Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, who has announced he is switching from the Democratic to Republican Party, shakes hands with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec. 19, 2019 (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Trump Gains from Trumped-Up Impeachment

Commentary

As a fighter who never settles for number two and the third U.S. president in history to face impeachment, President Donald Trump has just set a new record: two investigations in three years since his inauguration—the Russian Collusion investigation and the just-passed House impeachment.

Yue Fei, the famous Chinese Song Dynasty general, was executed for the crime of mo xu you (baseless or fabricated charges—莫须有), which can be understood in three ways: 1) a false accusation of treason; 2) an undesirable political situation, such as Yue Fei’s actions possibly resulting in the return of the old emperor to unseat the new emperor; and 3) a probable future crime.

After three years of researching Trump and communications with American voters, including both Trump haters and supporters, my conclusion is that Trump will receive more votes in 2020 than in 2016.

First, Trump’s supporter base will solidify, with some Never-Trumpers returning home. Chinese-American historian Li Jianglin observed that people she knew who voted for Trump were unlikely to change sides because of the impeachment, while some Democrats who voted for Hilary Clinton would switch to Trump.

Trump’s denotation of his opposition as the “Do-Nothing Democrats” is increasingly resonating with voters, exemplified by instances such as the one-year delay of the approval of the USMCA trade deal.

During the last election campaign, Trump and his supporters were labelled as nationalistic, ignorant, and deplorable, which caused many Trump supporters to masquerade as politically correct Clinton supporters, and resulted in distorted opinion polls. College professors have been reported to have trounced Trump in class but voted for him in the election.

Second, the better you understand Trump, the more likely you will support him. A Northwestern University Ph.D. student consulted with me about her dissertation topic in June 2018, after which she asked about Trump’s economic policies.

Her perception of Trump was altered in half an hour after I explained to her that the revenue-generation effect of a tax reduction would phase in in three to five years, the U.S. economy would experience strong growth, and infrastructure rebuilding would follow after the effectiveness of the tax reduction fades.

She then told me a true story about her economics professor, who broke down completely the day Trump won the election and skipped class for three days. He predicted that the U.S. economy would collapse during Trump’s first term.

She suggested I should lecture on Trump’s policies in the United States, as even economics professors got it completely wrong, let alone the ordinary people. I told her that it’s not their ignorance about economics, but the rejection of Trump’s policies.

I myself had been misled by Western mainstream media, until after he was elected, when I began visiting Trump’s official website to study his policy proposals. My impression of him changed completely after I saw that his personal income tax reduction plan closely resembled my proposals in an article two years earlier.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.) switched from the Democratic Party to join the Republican Party because of his opposition to the impeachment of the president after several calls with Trump followed by a personal meeting. Two Democratic congressmen voted against one impeachment article and three against the other, all of which prove my point.

Third, the Republican Party has never been more united, with a record 95 percent of Republicans supporting Trump. No Republicans voted for impeachment in the House, with a similar Senate vote expected. Republican senators from the Majority Leader to other heavy-weight members have all voiced opposition to the impeachment.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is subjecting herself to tremendous pressure every day she withholds the impeachment articles from the Senate, and the day she submits it, her reputation would be destroyed.

Impeachment: Last Chance at Life for Democrats

Insomuch as impeachment is more destructive to the Democrats, why would they try it? First, out of hatred, jealousy, and desperation.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich tweeted that the impeachment is based on nothing but hatred. In his letter to Pelosi, Trump stated plainly that the impeachment began the moment he was sworn in: “Nineteen minutes after I took the oath of office, the Washington Post published a story headlined, ‘The Campaign to Impeach President Trump Has Begun.’”

Second, Trump crushed many politically correct lies advocated by the Democrats and the left, depriving the left of their brand of mirages. Within two years, Trump has redefined Political Correctness as standing up against China, even if in a New Cold War. His new PC is not only embraced by both Houses of Congress, it has made its way from debates among elites into ordinary households, as exemplified by rising hostility against China in new polls. To the Democrats, therefore, impeaching Trump has become their only charade of political correctness.

Third, it’s using the offensive defense against Trump. No evidence has been found in Ukrainegate—a crime of mo xu you. Leftist media, both in the United States and Europe, have produced no solid findings other than wild accusations.

Meanwhile none of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates matches up against Trump. The entire impeachment was based on speculation, imagination, guesses, or New York Times stories, which were based on hearsay themselves. The real story behind Ukrainegate, surprisingly, involves a possible quid pro quo in the Ukraine by the leading Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, and his son, plus a strong possibility that other high-level Democrats could also be implicated. How could they not be scared?

Trump might be concealing his joy: I love seeing you hating me while watching me Make America Great Again.

He Jiangbin is a Chinese financial expert and author. He once worked for the The People’s Bank of China, and is the author of “The Truth of Finance” and “The Illusion of Economy.” He is a columnist and commentator for Apple Daily and several other media outlets.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.