Philippe Folgado // Photo credit: JIM WATSON / POOL / AFP 7:35 p.m., September 15, 2023, modified at 7:56 p.m., September 15, 2023
Joe Biden is accused of lying about his involvement in his son’s affairs and is the target of an impeachment inquiry. An impeachment process that has little chance of success, but which, according to the former French ambassador to the US, Philippe Étienne, shows a “growing polarization of American politics”.
United States President Joe Biden has been the target of an impeachment inquiry since Tuesday. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is accusing the president of “lying” to the American people about his involvement in the affairs of his son Hunter Biden. This is the third impeachment trial initiated against a president in the last two terms. For the former French ambassador to the United States, Philippe Étienne, guest at Europe 1 Soir Week-End, this procedure fits into a very specific context of American politics.
“We run the risk of trivializing the impeachment”
Even though this impeachment inquiry has very little chance of success, given that the Senate must decide the president and it has a Democratic majority, it risks dealing a blow to American democracy. Impeachment was a very rare procedure in the country’s political history. Only three presidents have faced it: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Donald Trump twice in 2019 and 2021. Richard Nixon decided to resign from the Oval Office in 1974 before it was formulated because he suspected that he would become the first impeached president in history after the Watergate scandal.
For Philippe Étienne, there is a “danger of trivializing the procedure”, the repetition of which “is worrying because it will encourage radicalism among people”. There are likely to be even tougher clashes than before between supporters of Donald Trump and those outraged by certain actions by the former president. For this reason, the threat of impeachment must remain the exception, regardless of the opposition’s reason for opposing the president.
The presidential election in sight
This announcement of an investigation into Joe Biden comes in a particular political context in the United States: the presidential election is approaching, tensions between the two major parties are rising, and Donald Trump is facing several legal proceedings. The Republicans are trying to damage the image of the incumbent president with this legal affair, while Kevin McCarthy is also trying to make promises to the far right wing of the party that will benefit the former president, who allowed him to take the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives beginning of the year.
What is certain is that the country is more divided than ever and the risk of a “shutdown,” this paralysis of the country’s economy and activity, is more than possible if Congress fails to agree on the federal government’s budget.