Republicans on Saturday offered wide-ranging responses to President Trump’s acquittal.
Senator John Kennedy (R-La.), Who was one of 43 Senate Republicans who voted to acquit Trump, tweeted“Impeachment is not supposed to be a political sport in which one party seeks advantage over the other at the expense of the country. The earnings of the Democrats cause were not even close. “
Trump confidant Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wrote“For the good of the country, I hope this will be the last Senate impeachment in which a president is impeached without a lawyer, without witnesses, and a trial record built from hearsay to hearsay.”
While he wasn’t one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to condemn Trump in his second impeachment trial, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Condemned Trump in language that rivaled House’s impeachment officials.
“There is no doubt – no – that President Trump has practical and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” McConnell said.
“The people who stormed this building believed they were acting according to the wishes and instructions of their president, and that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless exaggeration that the defeated president continues to blame soil. “
McConnell accused Trump of pursuing a “plan to reverse the election” that put then Vice President Mike Pence and police officers at risk.
Five people died as a direct result of the riot, including four rioters and Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick. Two police officers and at least one rioter were subsequently killed by suicide.
Republican sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania voted to condemn Trump.
Cassidy said, “Our constitution and our country is more important than anyone else. I voted to condemn President Trump for being guilty. “
Burr said, “The president promoted baseless conspiracy theories to cast doubt on the integrity of free and fair elections because he did not like the results … [and] when the crowd turned violent, the president used his office to stir up the situation first rather than immediately calling for an end to the attack. “
But many Republicans pinned down in their trial assessments whether the trial was constitutional because Trump had already left office. Some argued that Trump’s words in his pre-riot speech did not cross the legal threshold to amount to sedition.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) Told reporters, “I think the votes would say the Senate does not have the power to depose an officer who is no longer in office.”
Asked if Trump had a future in politics, Rubio said, “That’s not what the accusation was about.”
In a statement after acquittal, Trump teased, “Our historic, patriotic, and beautiful movement to make America great again has only just begun.”
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who also voted for acquittal, noted that it would be the public deciding whether Trump is capable of making a political comeback.
“Oh, time will somehow take care of that,” Grassley said. But remember, to be a leader you have to have followers. So we’re going to find out who is leading. But everyone will be involved. We are a big tent. “