Republicans on Saturday offered wide-ranging reactions to President Trump’s acquittal of Trump.
Senator John Kennedy (R-La.), Who was among the 43 Senate Republicans voting to acquit Trump, he tweeted“Dismissal is not supposed to be a political sport where one party seeks advantages over the other at the expense of the country. The merits of the Democrats’ case were not even close.”
Trump’s trusted senator, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) he wrote, “For the good of the country, I hope this will be the last removal from the Senate in which a president is charged without a lawyer, without witnesses, and a trial history is built on rumors about rumors.”
While he was not among the seven Senate Republicans who voted to condemn Trump in his second impeachment trial, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Condemned Trump in a language that competed with the dismissal managers of the House.
“There is no doubt (any) that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” McConnell said.
“The people who stormed this building believed that they were acting according to the wishes and instructions of their president and having this belief was a predictable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole, which the defeated president continued to call the most big megaphone on planet Earth “.
McConnell accused Trump of pursuing a “scheme to cancel the election” that endangered then-Vice President Mike Pence and police officers.
Five people died as a direct result of the riot, including four riot police and U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. Subsequently, two police officers and at least one riot police officer killed themselves.
Republican 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 dit, “Our Constitution and our country are more important than anyone. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty. “
Burr said: “The president promoted unfounded conspiracy theories to question the integrity of a free and fair election because he did not like the results … [and] when the crowd turned violent, the president used his office to inflame the situation instead of immediately calling for an end to the assault. “
But many Republicans set their assessments of the trial on 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 for mistaken incitement.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) Told reporters, “I think the votes would say the Senate has no power to accuse an officer who is no longer in office.”
Asked if Trump had a future in politics, Rubio said “dismissal was not about that.”
In a post-acquittal statement, Trump mocked, “Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to make America great again has just begun.”
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who also voted for the acquittal, noted that it would be the public who would decide whether Trump would be able to return to politics.
“Oh, time will take care of it one way or another,” Grassley said. “But remember, to be a leader you have to have followers. That way we will know, who guides. But everyone will participate. We are a great tent. “