Impeachment Trial: People on the Street
Burlington—January 28, 2020: As the impeachment trial unfolds in the U.S. Senate, Community News Service reporters talked with Vermonters and visitors. We asked a range of people whether they’re following the trial, why or why not, and what they’re hoping to see.
On Burlington’s Church Street, people shuffled along in various clumps of friends and families, bearing dog leashes, coffees, or shopping bags, united under a dreary grey sky and an inconsistent drizzle of cold rain. Comments on the trial ranged from sadness, to avoidance to anger.
Cathie, 63, visiting from Chicago, said she has “somewhat” been following the impeachment trial in the Senate but would like to see it end. “Because politics has gotten so horrible, I don’t believe one side or the other,” she said, concluding sadly, “so I don’t believe anything.”
Zach, 50, visiting from Pennsylvania for the weekend, echoed Cathie’s doubts. Holding the hand of his smiling and fidgety daughter, Zach said that the trial is “panning out exactly the way that we all predicted it would pan out is the Democrats would line up on one side, the Republicans on the other, and everyone would say they were lying, and who knows who’s actually telling the truth?” Ultimately, Zach hopes a few Republicans will break party lines to hold Trump accountable
UVM students Caleb Stevens, 21, and Luna Pitaniello, 20, also called for holding Trump accountable. Caleb believes “the Senate trial is a political sham and they’re not letting the correct witnesses and documents be relayed to the American public.” He worried out loud about “normalizing such morally corrupt political behavior” and the impact on the political system. Luna stressed that people need to take Trump and the impeachment trial seriously, rather than just make fun of his hair or behavior. “Our democracy is dying, ” she said.
Burlington residents, Alison, 32, and Jeff, 33, agreed to take a quick break from deciding where to go to lunch to share their opinions. As they clutched their steaming coffee cups, both said they’ve been following the impeachment trial to the best of their ability. As Jeff put it, “It’s on, and I try to listen to it, but at the same time, I’ve heard a lot of the same stuff before.” While Alison thinks it's part of her duty as a citizen to follow the trial, she expressed that it’s difficult and discouraging to want to watch it and believe in it “when you keep hearing that it’s pointless.” Jeff added his frustration: “You just kind of hear lies usually.” Alison hopes that maybe this messy process will result in more formality and fairness in the future.
Scott, 46, from Pennsylvania, offered a different opinion. He thinks that the trial is a waste of time and tax payers’ dollars. Unlike the majority of the other interviewees, Scott believes that Trump did nothing wrong. He hopes that the Senate will “hurry up and get it done and over with.”
Some thought the trial might get more people to vote. Shay, 26, from behind a counter at the Body Shop said: “It’s going push democrats, liberals, and non-party people to have more fire under their belly.” Her co-worker, Cori, 25, a resident of South Burlington, said she tunes most of it because it is too painful— – or gets her information mostly from satirical talk show hosts such as Joe Rogan. “We should all be educated with it because it is us, as a collective whole, that is doing this. I don’t follow it because it stresses me out. You think it doesn’t directly affect you, it does.”
Arranging merchandise, Saedee, 20, expressed disgust with the whole process and suggested that people who don’t follow politics should not be allowed to vote. “People that aren’t educated in stuff like that shouldn’t be allowed to vote. People have their opinion and people in the middle of nowhere can type it on the internet… and all these people have opinions when it could be entirely wrong and everyone is just going to follow that.”
Burlington resident Andrew Getz, 25, shifted wearily from foot to foot and furrowed his brow when asked if he was paying attention to the impeachment trial. “I’m trying to get some space away from the impeachment trial because it’s very anxiety inducing,” Getz said, hurrying into City Market.
He’s not the only one avoiding the much publicized trial and the abundance of news and controversy surrounding the proceedings.
Ed Hill, 53, from Rutland, maintained a more blasé approach to tuning out the murky political waters.
“I read the headlines about impeachment but I’m not invested. It’s pretty clear to me that he won’t face any consequences,” Hill said, shrugging his shoulders in thoughtful resignation.
The lifelong Vermonter’s view reflects a recent Pew Research Center poll stating that 63% of Americans thought that Trump probably or definitely broke the law, but just 51% thought that the President should be removed from office.
The issue of impeachment has divided both congressional parties and Americans around the country, including one Hinesburg couple.
Karen Robinson, 77, says she watches the impeachment trial on TV because it is the necessary thing to do. “It’s important! It’s history whether they impeach the president or not,” Robinson said.
Meanwhile, her husband Dave Robinson, 83, looked on in frustration. “It’s always Trump this, Trump that, I’m tired of hearing about it. I’m shutting my ears as much as I can,” he said, shaking his head at his wife’s television choices.
While they had little to say about the results of the trial, they disagreed sharply on paying attention to the history unfolding each day in Washington.
“It would be wrong to ignore something like that,” she told her husband, stressing the importance of keeping up with the news.
Bustling back into the Church Street wind with an armful of shopping bags attached to winter coats, the pair was likely not finished debating how much attention should be paid to politics.
