Demonstrating that disgraced former President Donald Trump still owns them, 45 Senate Republicans voted to dismiss the impeachment trial claiming that it’s unconstitutional and too late to be held.
On Monday, House Democrats formally delivered the article of impeachment to the Senate more than a week after passing it, making Trump the only president to be impeached twice.
But Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) concocted a scheme to force the Senate to vote on the constitutionality of the trial since Trump is no longer in office.
And 45 Republicans basically revealed their intention to acquit Trump even though he incited the insurrection at the Capitol that could have gotten many of them killed.
Only five Republicans, Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) voted with Democrats.
The impeachment trial will proceed, but it’s clear most Senate Republicans approved of the insurrection and want to give Trump a pass for trying to overthrow democracy and the Constitution.
Democrats are not amused, and several of them condemned Senate Republicans for being unpatriotic cowards.
*Hours after* terrorists ransacked the US Capitol 138-of-202 (68%) House republicans voted to make trump a dictator. Nothing they say about unity is worth a nickel. They tried to finish the rioters’ job and end democracy. https://t.co/yNShVh816j
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) January 26, 2021
Senate Republicans admit Trump incited violence.
They know insurrectionists tried to overthrow the US government, placed bombs near the Capitol, and called for the assassination of the VP and the Speaker.
But most of them oppose doing literally anything to hold him accountable.
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) January 26, 2021
The Constitution and precedent are clear:
Impeachment after a president leaves office is valid.
And when a president incited an insurrection to thwart the transfer of power at the end of his term,
It’s required.
The Senate must uphold its oath to defend our democracy. https://t.co/GWXu85x2xf
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 26, 2021
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also weighed in and debunked Paul’s claim that impeaching Trump now is unconstitutional by pointing out that the Constitution makes it clear that impeachment is also about barring someone from holding office again.
“If the framers intended impeachment to merely be a vehicle to remove sitting officials from their office they would not have included that additional provision, disqualification from future office,” Schumer told CNN. “The language is crystal clear without any ambiguity. The history and precedent is clear. The Senate has the power to try former officials, and the reasons for that are basic common sense.”
As it stands, Trump has only served one term in office, so he could run again in 2024. Therefore, it’s logical to impeach him. Of course, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also voted for Paul’s resolution, making it clear that he only refused to immediately start the trial so he could pull a stunt like this and argue that Trump shouldn’t be impeached since he is already out of office.
All 45 of these Republicans should be ashamed of themselves and barred from holding office themselves. At this point, they are just as guilty as Trump. If they let him get away with trying to overthrow democracy, you can bet he will try again. And it looks like that’s what they want.
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