Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took to social media Tuesday to declare Senate Democrats’ attempt to remove private citizen Donald Trump from an office he no longer holds “dead on arrival.”
Paul called for a procedural vote on a Senate trial, arguing the upper chamber should not proceed on the rushed article of impeachment against the former president filed by Democrats in the House because Trump is out of office.
Turns out, 45 of his fellow Republican senators agreed, voting against a trial they see as unconstitutional
“The Senate just voted on my constitutional point of order,” Paul tweeted. “45 Senators agreed that this sham of a “trial” is unconstitutional. That is more than will be needed to acquit and to eventually end this partisan impeachment process. This “trial” is dead on arrival in the Senate.”
The Senate just voted on my constitutional point of order.
45 Senators agreed that this sham of a “trial” is unconstitutional.
That is more than will be needed to acquit and to eventually end this partisan impeachment process.
This “trial” is dead on arrival in the Senate.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 26, 2021
Five GOP senators, the regular suspects, plus a rabid hater — voted in favor of a trial: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska.
Speaking to the media after the vote, the Kentucky senator said the outcome means the trial Democrats are moving forward with now that they control the Senate is over before it starts.
“If you voted that it was unconstitutional, how in the world would you ever vote to convict somebody for this?” Paul said, according to Politico. “This vote indicates it’s over. The trial is all over.”
“So it’s a significant hypocrisy and double standard that they’re putting forward and they should be called out on it. Nobody should be shy about calling them out on their hypocrisy,’ he later told Fox News.
Appearing Tuesday night on “FOX News Primetime,” Paul countered the claim that Trump incited violence that day the U.S. Capitol was stormed, pointing to the rhetoric of Democrats, to include the infamous words of Rep. Maxine Waters, D- Calif., to get in the face of Trump administration officials.
(Source: Fox News)
Paul pointed to the rhetoric over health care, noting that before the gunman opened fire at the congressional baseball practice in 2017, nearly killing Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., he called out, “This is for healthcare.”
“One of Bernie Sanders’ supporters came to the ballfield, nearly killed Steve Scalise … but nobody talked about impeaching Bernie Sanders,” he added. “Maxine Waters has said, ‘Get up in their face’ — so has Cory Booker — ‘Become a mob, we want you to mob them at restaurants and cause mayhem.’ That sounds like an incitement to violence but nobody’s talking about impeaching Maxine Waters, nobody’s talking about impeaching Bernie Sanders or Cory Booker for saying ‘Get up in their face.'”
In a spirited Senate floor speech before the vote, Paul stressed how divisive it was to move forward with an “unconstitutional” trial of a private citizen.
“Democrats claim to want to unify the country, but impeaching a former president, a private citizen, is the antithesis of unity,” he said.
(Source: C-SPAN)
Paul also noted that when Trump commented on protesters going to the Capitol, he used the terms “peacefully and patriotically.”
“Hardly words of violence,” he said, before turning again to the words of Sanders and Waters.
Not only was Paul present at the ballfield when the gunman opened fire, he and his wife were set upon by a mob in D.C. after they left last summer’s Republican National Convention.
“My wife and I were pushed and surrounded and screamed at by this same type of mob that Maxine likes to inspire,” he said. “It’s terrifying to have a swarm of people threatening to kill you, cursing at you and literally holding you hostage until police come to your rescue. That night we were assaulted by the crowd, I wasn’t sure if we’d survive even with the police protection.”
Referencing the Democrats’ claim that Trump incited the crowd while speaking at an earlier rally the day of the attack on the Capitol, saying “fight for your country,” Paul noted the sheer hypocrisy of such a claim.
“I want the Democrats to raise their hands if they have ever given a speech that says ‘take back, fight for your country.’ Who hasn’t used the word ‘fight’ figuratively, and are we going to put every politician in jail, are we going to impeach every politician who has used the words fight figuratively in a speech?” he asked. “Shame. Shame on these angry, unhinged partisans who are putting forth this sham impeachment.”
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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