Donald Trump is heading towards impeachment – and you have the power to make that happen

The president's cronies are finally turning on their master and burying him in a series of legal predicaments from which not even Paul Ryan can rescue him

When it comes to President Donald Trump, what you see is what you get – and what most of us see is a shallow slimeball.

Trump shows little respect for women, poor folks, smart people or just about anyone of colour. He brags about grabbing women “by the pussy”, is facing lawsuits for sexual assault, locks migrant children up and has declared bankruptcy six times. He is a slave to America’s gun lobby, has suggested Mexicans are rapists and doesn’t seem to believe climate change is a genuine phenomenon.

Never has there been a man less capable of representing my country to the world. Never has there been a man who so blatantly tramples upon the freedoms and values that America holds dear. And never has there been a man who so flagrantly cares less about the lives and wellbeing of his people.

History remembers Richard Nixon as some sort of monster but at least he had the common decency to resign when he was caught. Trump lacks both common decency and common sense – and that’s why, in the wake of this week’s judgements, he’s finally got to go.

Mercifully, it appears that national day of reckoning could be fast approaching. Trump’s cronies are finally turning on their master and burying him in a series of legal predicaments from which not even Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan can rescue him.

Yesterday, Trump’s former lawyer and campaign manager were both convicted of a string of financial crimes, with Michael Cohen explicitly implicating the president in involvement in campaign finance violations. What were those campaign violations? According to his former aide Cohen, the president has been lying about paying off women he was afraid might blab about their alleged affairs.

Cohen testified under oath Trump directed him to buy the silence of a Playboy playmate and a porn star for the sole purpose of protecting the reality TV star-turned president’s tumultuous sideshow bid for the highest office. According to Cohen’s lawyer, that means Trump should be facing criminal charges too.

The wackiest part of this real-life political fantasy drama? A president lying to the American people about porn star hush money and potential campaign finance violations might not even be the biggest problem for the White House to deal with right now. While we’re all lapping up Cohen and his Playboy money pit over on Stage A, we can’t forget about that “dog” Omarosa Manigault, her stacks of taped conversations with the president, claims of corruption and Trump using the n-word over at the sunshine pavilion. And then what about the looming threat of a Trump subpoena from Robert Mueller, for dodgy dealings with the Russians, on Stage B?

This is unbearable. Trump wasn’t fit to be president before all these skeletons started to pour out of his closet. Now, each and every day, he makes a mockery of the United States and everything we stand for.

That’s why Trump must be impeached – and, my fellow American citizens, you and I have the power to make that happen. If you want Trump to stop greasing up the Oval Office with Big Mac wrappers, get up and do something about it. Write to your representative. Call your senator. They’re the ones who can kickstart impeachment, and they’re elected by us.

If you’re unfortunate enough to be represented by a Trump acolyte incapable of independent thought, then get out there and campaign for their replacement. Get involved. Vote for somebody with the courage to listen, to do what’s right and vote to peacefully rid us of this great orange buffoon.

America is better than this. We are better than this. If you’re sick and tired of listening to a debate about who the president did or did not have sex with – if you’d rather focus on solving genuine problems and trying to make our society a better place – then it’s time for action.

Nash Riggins is an American writer based in Scotland