Trump Wants to Be Impeached

Why the impeachment process is Trump’s greatest weapon in the 2020 election

The only thing more surprising than the findings of the Mueller Report a month ago has been the behavior of the President since. It was stunning to have no clear verdicts of criminal activity, obstruction of justice, or conspiracy with the Russians in the initial summaries of the report. But it has been surreal to see the level of vindictiveness, obstinance, and explicit obstruction of Congress that Trump has engaged in since theoretically being “exonerated of all wrongdoing”. In fact, many including those who have resisted calls for impeachment in the past have viewed the president’s behavior over the last four weeks as a new wave of potentially impeachable behavior. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said half-jokingly following a volatile meeting with Trump this week at the White House, “he wants to be impeached.”

Only to Trump it is not a joke. He does not want to be impeached, but he may want the House to begin the impeachment process. This is because it solidifies his ability to play the role of the victim regardless of how much his own behaviors are to blame. From the perspective of the 2020 election Trump can take a defensive position in relation to the various narratives he has created or nurtured. From ‘the Deep State’ to jealous and vindictive Democrats still upset about losing in 2016, a…