Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell couldn’t find his spine over the weekend when he voted to acquit Donald Trump in the Senate impeachment trial, but he did openly urge the criminal justice system to hold the disgraced former president accountable.
During an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Monday, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said McConnell’s post-acquittal speech sounded like something an impeachment manager would have delivered, not a GOP senator who opposed conviction.
“What he was saying is that he thinks that Donald Trump should be in prison,” Rep. Lieu said. “He is essentially saying that the criminal justice system is there to hold Donald Trump accountable.”
Video:
“What [Mitch McConnell] was saying is that he thinks that Donald Trump should be in prison,” says Rep. @tedlieu of McConnell’s post-acquittal speech. pic.twitter.com/fPUbz7jMEy
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) February 16, 2021
Rep. Lieu said:
What was remarkable about Senator McConnell’s speech was not only that he sounded like a House impeachment manager for the first half and then contorted himself to explain why he voted to acquit, but also basically what he was saying is that he thinks that Donald Trump should be in prison. He is essentially saying that the criminal justice system is there to hold Donald Trump accountable. That is a remarkable statement coming if from the Senate minority leader.
The criminal justice system must do what GOP lawmakers were too spineless to do
Following his vote to acquit Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell basically said that the justice system must do what he and his Republican colleagues were too spineless to do: Hold the former president accountable.
McConnell also suggested that other criminal conduct committed by Trump – not just inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection – should be examined. As Rep. Lieu said on Monday, that’s a pretty remarkable statement for a Senate minority leader to make about a former president.
Senate Republicans refused to uphold their oaths as jurors in the impeachment trial, but the criminal justice system is already working its way toward Donald Trump.
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