WASHINGTON — Matt and Sue Frieden didn’t stand in line for more than two hours to just watch the historic Senate impeachment trial Thursday.
They believe their presence will make a difference.
“As Christians, we believe that Jesus says I am light and he lives within us, and we feel like we carry light. So when we are in the Senate chambers we feel like we bring light with us,” Sue Frieden said.
The conservative parents of two children were in town for Friday’s annual March for Life anti-abortion event, which brought larger than usual crowds taking advantage of an opportunity to witness the second day of opening arguments in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
The Illinois farmers want the Senate to acquit Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges, and they expect sitting the gallery can eventually convince more than the Republican majority of the president’s innocence.
Meanwhile, Mimi Burke, a 47-year-old high school teacher from Maryland, was there to listen and learn. She sat through an hour of House managers explaining how the Founding Fathers intended impeachment to address the conduct Trump is accused of so she could help her U.S. government class better understand the third impeachment trial in American history.
“It was very somber, very thoughtful, very methodical, and I was impressed with how solemn the whole event was,” she said, noting she expected something more raucous. “I thought the historic roots of the argument was very interesting and pretty persuasive.”
The House impeached the president last month, alleging he abused his office by asking Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden while withholding crucial military aid. They also charged him with obstructing Congress by refusing to turn over documents or allow officials to testify in the House probe.
House managers, who are prosecuting the case, spent most of Thursday explaining how the Constitution applies to the article of impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power.
“Impeachment is the Constitution’s final answer to a president who mistakes himself as a king,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. Trump’s alleged misconduct “puts even President Nixon to shame,” he added, referring to the criminal conduct that forced Richard Nixon to resign rather than face impeachment.
Trump is the third president to be impeached and no president has been removed from office. The trial in the GOP-controlled Senate is expected to have the same result.
Trump and his defense team, which will begin its presentation on Saturday, say the president has done nothing criminal or that warrants his removal from office. During debate Tuesday, Trump’s attorneys blasted the House impeachment process as unfair and an attempt to weaken Trump’s reelection prospects in November.
While hundreds were willing to stand in line for the chance to look down on the rare sight of a full Senate presided over by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, the event hasn’t made for riveting TV. Several cable channels are airing gavel-to-gavel coverage that extends into prime-time viewing hours, but major networks have opted to stick with their regular programming.
Thursday’s tedious recitation of events and explanations of constitutional law likely won’t change that. Nor will it change minds of Americans on where they stand on impeachment and Trump’s fate, according to the recent polls.
The Friedens represent most Americans who have made up their minds on Trump’s guilt or innocence and don’t expect the trial to change that.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found the public is slightly more likely to say the Senate should convict and remove Trump from office than to say it should not, 45% to 40%. But a sizable percentage, 14%, say they don’t know enough to have an opinion.
“Americans on both sides of the debate say they feel strongly about their positions, and three-quarters say it’s not very likely or not at all likely that the trial will introduce new information that would change their minds,” AP reported.
About 8 in 10 Republicans think the Senate should not convict and remove Trump from office, compared with roughly the same share of Democrats who say Trump should be convicted and removed. Overall, confidence in the Senate to conduct a fair trial of the president is limited, though Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say it will be a fair trial.
Pew Research Center found similar results on a partisan lines, with Republican-leaning independents (86%) saying the trial should result in Trump remaining in office, while roughly the same share of Democrats and Democratic leaners (85%) think Trump should be removed.
While the public is closely divided on the consequences of Trump’s conduct, Pew found 63% say Trump has done things that are illegal, either during his time in office or while he was running for president, and 70% say he has done unethical things.
But the public does not express much confidence in either party to be “fair and reasonable” during the Senate trial. About half of Americans (48%) are at least somewhat confident that Senate Democrats will be fair and reasonable, while slightly fewer (43%) say the same about the Senate GOP.
While the GOP-controlled Senate is expected to acquit the president of high crimes and misdemeanors, the Friedens believe their short time in the Senate gallery will have a purpose, just as attending the March for Life will.
“It’s by divine appointment because we made plans to come here back in November, October and we had no idea that there was going to be an impeachment hearing at that time,” said Sue Frieden. “So it’s a historic event. We are here to stand for the Constitution and see that it’s all carried through like it was intended to.”