Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell on Saturday accused Donald Trump of “responsibility” for the fatal assault on Capitol Hill, after his acquittal was voted in at his landmark Senate trial.
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The influential senator said, “No doubt, no, President Trump is responsible, in fact and morally, for making the events of this day happen” on January 6.
In the same letter, he justified his vote in favor of acquittal, saying he felt the Senate had no jurisdiction to judge a former president.
He asserted that the rioters acted in this way “because the most powerful man on earth has fed them lies” by refusing to defeat him in the presidential elections on 3 November. “Because he was angry. He lost the election.”
“Former President Trump’s actions before the riots were a shameful breach of his duties,” Mitch McConnell said in a long speech.
Ahead of the opening of the final day of the trial, Saturday morning, this brilliant strategist, who until then had remained conservative about his intentions, indicated that he would vote to acquit the Republican billionaire.
He said it was a “difficult decision” that undoubtedly had a major impact on the final vote, given its significant impact on his parliamentary group. It would have taken 17 Republicans to vote with the Democratic senators to get a conviction.
In the end, seven Republicans voted in favor of this party, which is a remarkable break for this party that normally holds together in the Senate.
Mitch McConnell was careful to point out that if, according to him, Donald Trump could not be tried in the Senate, because he is now a “simple citizen,” then the real estate mogul on the other hand could be sued.
He is still responsible for everything he did while in office. “He hasn’t escaped anything at all yet,” said Mitch McConnell.
The senator, a close ally of Donald Trump, has not spoken during his four-year term, since he acknowledged the victory of his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, in mid-December.
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