Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who voted to acquit Donald Trump of incitement of insurrection, is now delivering a blistering speech about the former president.
The Republican leader said Trump committed a “disgraceful dereliction of duty” by refusing to intervene as his supporters carried out a violent insurrection at the Capitol.
“There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically, and morally, responsible for provoking the events of the day,” McConnell said.
McConnell emphasized that the insurrectionists turned violent because Trump had told them a series of lies about the presidential election.
“They did this because they’d been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth because he was angry he lost an election,” McConnell said. “This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories.”
The Republican leader then pivoted to making a jurisdictional argument against conviction, saying the Senate is not meant to act as a “moral tribunal”. — https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2021/feb/13/donald-trump-impeachment-senate-trial-vote-verdict-live-updates
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell also argued that the chamber did not have the ability to convict Donald Trump because he has already left office.
It’s worth noting that the House impeached Trump while he was still in office, and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called on McConnell, who was then the majority leader, to bring the chamber back for an emergency session to start the trial.
McConnell refused to do so, delaying the trial until after Joe Biden was sworn in.
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