Top Ten Phrases Associated with the February 2021 Impeachment Trial

off ramp
save the date
Who asked that question?!?!
Donald Trump—the leader who respects the police and abhors violence
Donald Trump—the fire chief who watched in delight as the house burned
The Big Lie
We're going to Disney World
no way it's constitutional, since he's no longer in office
way
fig leaf

Posted October 17, 2022; Written February 17, 2021

Commentary

President Trump's February 2021 impeachment trial spawned quite a few interesting phrases. The quaint words, phrases, and concepts associated with the proceedings are memorialized in this funny top ten list.

Some phrases are tied to Republican senators' desire for a conceptual framework that would enable them to acquit President Trump for actions that were really quite indefensible (e.g, "off ramp" and "fig leaf").

Perhaps the coolest phrase isn't new ("The Big Lie"—capitalized for dramatic effect, and to annoy Republicans). This phrase dates back to Nazi Germany.

Now, you might think it was some savvy VP of Branding at a cable new channel who came up with the idea of using this short, catchy phrase to encapsulate the bogus "stolen election" claim behind it. However, as best we can tell, TV commentators generally referred to President Trump's claim that the election was stolen in a more longwinded way during the period leading up to the January 6 insurrection, such as: "President Trump hasn't brought forth any evidence to support his false claim that the election was stolen."

According to Wikipedia, it was president-elect Biden who used "the big lie" two days after the January 6 insurrection. It appears that the phrase caught on with news commentators after Biden used it, and the phrase was invoked repeatedly by House prosecutors at the impeachment trial.

Are we a bit embarrassed to admit that Wikipedia is our source for this information? Sure, but our google searches didn't turn up readily available information from online news sources.