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WASHINGTON (AP) – Supporters for Donald Trump in the Senate rallied around the former president on Sunday ahead of his impeachment trial, dismissing it as a waste of time and arguing that the former president’s fiery speech before the U.S. Capitol uprising does not hold him responsible for the January 6 violence.
“If being held accountable means being impeached by the House and sentenced by the Senate, the answer is no,” said Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, making it clear that Trump should and will be acquitted. When asked if Congress could consider other sanctions, such as censorship, Mr Wicker said the Democratic-led House had that option earlier but rejected it in favor of his impeachment.
“This ship has sailed,” he said.
The Senate is set to launch the impeachment trial on Tuesday to examine the accusation that Trump’s combative words to protesters at a Capitol rally as well as weeks of lies about a stolen and rigged presidential election sparked a crowd to storm the Capitol. Five people following the melee, including a policeman.
Many senators, including Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, immediately spoke out against the violence and blamed Trump. Following the riot, Wicker said Americans “will not stand this kind of attack on the rule of law” and, without naming a name, said “we must prosecute” those who undermine democracy.
But with Trump now out of the presidency, Republicans have shown little political appetite to take further action, such as an impeachment conviction that could prevent him from running for future positions. These partisan divisions appear to be hardening ahead of Trump’s trial, a sign of his continued grip on the GOP.
On Sunday, Wicker described Trump’s impeachment trial as a “meaningless partisan message exercise.” When asked if Trump’s conduct deserved more impeachment than that of President Bill Clinton, whom Wicker voted to impeach, he replied, “I don’t concede that President Trump has instigated an insurgency. ” Clinton’s impeachment in 1998 was sparked by his false denial in a statement about sex with a White House intern.
Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky dismissed Trump’s trial as a farce with “no chance of conviction”, describing Trump’s words to protesters to “fight like hell” as Congress voted to ratify the presidential victory of Joe Biden as a “figurative” speech.
“If we’re going to criminalize speech and somehow indict anyone who says, ‘Go fight to hear your voices heard’, I mean we really should impeach Chuck Schumer then,” he said. Paul said, referring to the Democratic majority leader in the Senate. and his critiques of Judges Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. “He went to the Supreme Court, went to the Supreme Court and said specifically, ‘Hey Gorsuch, Hey Kavanaugh, you’ve started a whirlwind. And you are going to pay the price. “”
Paul noted that Chief Justice John Roberts had refused to preside over this week’s impeachment proceedings because Trump was no longer president. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy will preside over the trial as President of the Senate pro tempore.
“It’s a joke, it’s unconstitutional. But more than anything, it is not wise and it will divide the country, ”said Paul.
Last month, Paul forced a vote to quash the trial as unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office, which legal experts say is questionable. But the vote suggested the near impossibility of securing a conviction in a Senate where Democrats hold 50 seats but a two-thirds vote – or 67 senators – would be required to convict Trump. Forty-four Republican senators sided with Paul and voted to oppose an impeachment trial. Five Republican senators joined Democrats in defeating Paul’s motion: Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Some Republicans said the vote did not “require” them to vote in a particular way on conviction, with Republican Senator Bill Cassidy in Louisiana saying on Sunday he would listen carefully to the evidence. But even harsh critics of Trump’s GOP on Sunday acknowledged the widely anticipated outcome.
“You had 45 Republican senators who voted to suggest they didn’t think it was appropriate to have a trial, so you can infer the likelihood of those people voting to convict,” said Toomey, who clearly said. indicated he believed. Trump has committed “unforgivable offenses”.
“I still think the best result would have been for the president to resign” before stepping down, he said. “Obviously he chose not to do this.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s staunch supporters, said he believed Trump’s actions were wrong and “he was going to have a place in history for it all,” but said insisted that it is not the Senate’s job to judge.
“It’s not a question of how the trial ends, it’s a question of when it ends,” Graham said. “Republicans are going to see this as an unconstitutional exercise, and the only question is, are they going to call witnesses, how long is the trial?” But there is really no doubt about the result. “
Wicker was on ABC’s “This Week,” Paul was on “Fox News Sunday,” Toomey appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and Graham was on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
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Associated Press editor Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
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