The worst trait that President Trump has is that he understands that fear is a positive correlation to Machiavellian control. Trump took advantage of a moment in time on January 6th, 2021. He knows how much of an effect he has on his followers, and also for him to be able to convince them of anything, he simply just has to utter the words.

What was supposed to be a constitutional ceremony at the United States Capitol, instead, turned into one of the saddest days in these United States’ recent history. What happened at the Capitol, should serve as a constant reminder of how fragile democratic institutions really are in the face of angry crowds and a leader willing to feed that anger for personal gain. After today, I’m not sure if one human being on this planet can argue that Donald J. Trump is not a threat to American democracy.

I’ve always had this ideology with high Republican officials – that they too, don’t ethically agree with Trump in any way shape, or form. That their support for Trump rendered too deep, so they were left with no choice but to support him. In one of the most famous political manifestos ever written, The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, he wrote that “for this can be said of men in general: that they are ungrateful, fickle, hypocrites and dissemblers, avoiders of dangers, greedy for gain; and while you benefit them, they are entirely yours, offering you their blood, their goods, their life, their children.” That quote is incredibly relevant to how high Republican officials treated Trump. They knew that they could not outlandishly disagree with him or else they run the risk of losing re-election because of how strong his base is. But after the stunt, Trump just pulled, I’m convinced that not even Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans can in good conscience continue on supporting Trump’s Presidency–even if there are just 2-weeks left in it.

What some would refer to as the nation’s “Temple of Democracy,” was ransacked by protestors who forcibly invaded the building. They sat at Nancy Pelosi’s desk and took pictures to prove it. They sat at Vice President Pence’s desk in the chamber and took pictures to prove it. They did it while carrying Trump flags and Confederate flags. I ask you, did this violent mob of domestic terrorists come from nowhere? No. The President of the United States organized what happened today and with one goal in mind– to stop the constitutional process of certifying the electoral college in Congress.

Leading up to what some would call an attempted “Coup d’état,” Trump organized a “Save America” rally in protest to what he believes is a “stolen election.” Not one time did he tell his supporters to not act in violence. Instead, he tweeted to the protestors who were involved in BLM, which he constantly refers to as “ANTIFA”, saying that they are a terrorist organization, and to stay out of Washington.

Time and time again, the president has claimed that the election was stolen. He even started suggesting it before the election even occurred. His arguments range from local counts with mail-in-voting, to constitutional arguments, and outright conspiracy theories. And all of these claims were lost in court, even at the federal level where the judges were appointed by Trump himself. But despite all of that, Trump continues to spew out these lies simply because he knows his supporters will believe anything he says.

He even played the narrative that what his supporters did at the capitol, “FIGHTING,” as he puts it on his Twitter account every 30 seconds, was a form of patriotism. He managed to convince his supporters that Biden and the democratic party stole the election and all they were doing in return, was fighting the good fight by halting the certification of the electoral college. The United States Capitol building was broken into once before, and it was when the British breached into it as they were burning down half of Washington D.C. during the War of 1812. Is that patriotism? Refusing to believe that you lost an election that is proven time and again to be a fair one, is that patriotism? Halting to stop a grand ceremony in our nation’s history threatening the lives of all of those, is that patriotism? Waiving the flag of the Confederation which sought to break free from our country, is that Patriotism? No, not even close. It’s domestic terrorism. When did we forget that we are a nation of laws, not men? When did we forget that we are a nation that is not pro-Trump but pro-truth?

“Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy” has been said many times in these last 4-years. And all of that was proven today. In an article I wrote months ago in May, I typed the words, “we adopted the mentality that our team is NEVER wrong and that the other team is ALWAYS wrong. I’m not sure when but somewhere along the lines in American politics, we replaced disagreement with hatred.” Disagreement is good, but not when we have a leader who lives off of splitting us apart. It’s almost as if he feeds off of it, as if he almost feels invisible if he doesn’t spew hate. There has always been a good-natured understanding in our county between congressmen/women and senators from both sides of the aisle. And it’s the fact that we all may heavily disagree on millions of issues, but we will always respect one another as Americans.

Multiple members in the United States House have already come to the realization that Trump must be held accountable for what happened today and that he insinuated violence on the Legislative branch of the United States Government. And the Constitution of the United States clearly says that “the President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Rep Ilhan Omar was among the first to call for Trump’s removal from office when she tweeted “I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment. Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate. We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.”