Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, was pressed by NBC News' Meet the Press host Kristen Welker on Sunday morning over his vote to acquit former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial.
When asked by Welker if he ever regrets his vote to acquit Trump for his alleged role in the deadly January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, McConnell replied:
"Look, he wasn't president anymore at that point, and there was a big debate over whether you can even remove somebody from office that they don't hold," he said. "I stick with what I said then. I addressed this issue on January 6 [2021] and February 13 [2021]. I stand by everything I said."
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign on Sunday morning for comment.
Context
A mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building on January 6 in a failed attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election win. The riot erupted following claims made by then-president Trump that the election was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud. There is no evidence, however, to support such claims.
One month and one week after the insurrection, Trump was acquitted for his alleged role of inciting the event.
A group of 57 senators voted to convict Trump while 43 senators voted to acquit, but the vote failed to reach the super majority threshold needed for a conviction. With two-thirds of the Senate necessary to convict, the vote fell 10 short.
Seven GOP senators—Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Richard Burr of North Carolina and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania—joined Democrats to vote Trump guilty of "incitement of insurrection."
What We Know
Despite his vote to acquit, McConnell directly blamed Trump for the insurrection.
After the vote on the Senate floor in February 2021, he said rioters had been "fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth. Because he was angry he'd lost an election."
McConnell added: "Former President Trump's actions that preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty. Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day."
However, McConnell argued then that "impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for American justice," and said that Trump could be subject to criminal prosecution in the future.
"We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one," he said at the time.
Views
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday heard oral arguments in Trump v. United States, in which the former president's attorney argued that all presidents are entitled to legal immunity for actions taken during their time in office. Trump's legal team brought the case in response to U.S. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith's indictment related to Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case.
With the context of his previous statements, Welker asked McConnell on Sunday about the presidential immunity case.
"The Supreme Court is going to deal with that direct issue that I was referring to on February 13 of 2021," he said.
As McConnell deflected to the Court, Welker asked the senator twice more about what "he thinks" about presidents being immune from criminal prosecution for actions while they're in office.
"Obviously, I don't think that but it's not up to me to make that decision," McConnell said. "The president clearly needs some kind of immunity, or he'd be in court all the time. That was my view, but I don't make that decision. The Court is going to decide."
What's Next?
Legal experts previously told Newsweek that Supreme Court justices seemed prepared to send the immunity case back to trial court for additional fact-finding on what constituted an official act versus a private act, but that they did not seem to indicate they would agree that Trump had complete immunity and should not be tried.
The proceedings could lead to further delays of the January 6 case. The trial was originally scheduled to begin on March 4, but Trump's appeal to the Court resulted in its delay. It remains unclear when the trial may begin.
Update: 4/28/24, 10:21 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with more information.
Update: 4/28/24, 10:58 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with more information.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Gabe Whisnant is Deputy Weekend Editor at Newsweek based in South Carolina. Prior to joining Newsweek in 2023, he directed ... Read more
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