As the House moves forward with subpoenas for White House officials to release documents related to President Trump’s attempt to pressure the president of Ukraine to investigate the Biden family, some in the American University community are unsure that the efforts will be fruitful.
Tensions are running high between Republicans and Democrats in the House, with 52 percent supporting the inquiry and 45 percent disapprove or do not yet have an opinion. Three percent have yet to respond to the situation at all.
Some fear political agendas may prevent a thorough investigation from moving forward.
In fact, international relations sophomore Mara Cruz suspects that when it comes down to brass tacks, politicians don’t actually care about it issue itself.
“I don’t want to get excited before anything happens,” Cruz, an Austin native, said. “I think [Republicans] are really loyal to him, and it really depends on what their opinion is on it.”
Bella Mollison, a freshman international relations and Arabic student from Anchorage, Alaska, shared that sentiment.
“I don’t think it will make much of an impact,” she shrugged. “The people who support [President Trump] have supported him through a lot of different scandals, and for the most part those who don’t support him haven’t since the beginning. That segregation between the two ideologies—this new event isn’t going to change that.”
And while the two women support impeachment but worry about the long-term outcomes, others on campus are more hopeful that the proceedings will move forward.
One woman even went so far as to say she’s thankful for the inquiry.
“We need to do this not for outcomes, but for the integrity of our nation,” Lauren Knowles, a mental health professional from New York, said. “The question is, ‘Will Americans as a people wake up and realize that this is important?’
“This is just a distillation of what’s been happening since Trump has been in office. I just think this all degrades the values our country was founded on,” she said.
However, not everyone sees merit in the efforts made by the House. Connor Quinn, a junior management innovation major from Washington, said he believes that Democrats are too late to be effective and should spend their time and resources in other areas.
“I’m not a fan of President Trump, but I do feel that the push toward impeachment isn’t necessarily going to do anything,” Quinn said. “I think the focus for Democrats right now shouldn’t be impeachment but getting the right person through primaries and winning the next election.”
Knowles disagreed. “I do hope there is a successful outcome, but there are some things you can’t not do. How are we going to get there if we don’t try?”
Quinn agreed that an investigation is important, but said he feels that one should have been brought up earlier in the Trump Administration. This belief was shared by Knowles, who said that while she believes the inquiry should have been made earlier, she understands the need for more concrete evidence.