In an attempt to suggest that the House of Representatives is now required to send the two articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial, President Donald Trump took to Twitter Thursday morning and resorted to making up something that doesn’t even appear in the U.S. Constitution.
The House of Representatives is indicating that it may not forward the articles of impeachment to the Senate unless and until Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) agrees to rules that are considered fair, which led Trump to post this on his Twitter feed:
“The Senate shall set the time and place of the trial.” If the Do Nothing Democrats decide, in their great wisdom, not to show up, they would lose by Default!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2019
But that line is not found anywhere in the Constitution, which contains this instruction regarding impeachment:
“The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.”
Be sure and note that there is no proscription from the Founding Fathers that a person being impeached would automatically win by default if the articles of impeachment aren’t sent to the Senate. It’s nothing more than yet another lie from a man who has already told over 15,000 of them since taking office.
Within minutes of Trump’s specious tweet, the social media platform lit up with numerous fact checks:
This is what it looks like when Trump tries to understand the Constitution on his own.
— Paul ? (@pablo_honey1) December 19, 2019
Sit down, President Asterisk
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) December 19, 2019
Actually the Senate rules state that the trial only happens AFTER House Democrats deliver the articles of impeachment and declare they are “ready” to proceed. Here’s hoping it will take House Dems 6 months to get “ready” so Trump freaks out every day!
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) December 19, 2019
You still haven’t read that operator’s manual yet, huh?
— Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) December 19, 2019
Featured Image Via Twitter