Posted on 02/13/2021 4:08:31 PM PST by RandFan
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Saturday unleashed blistering criticism of former President Trump, blaming him for sparking the attack on the Capitol while also explaining why he didn't vote for a conviction.
McConnell also suggested that Trump could face criminal prosecution for his actions.
"There's no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it. The people that stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president," McConnell said.
"And having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole, which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on the Earth," McConnell added.
McConnell's remarks came after the Senate fell short of the 67 votes needed to convict Trump. Though McConnell voted to acquit him, arguing it fell outside the Senate's jurisdiction, his remarks are a stinging rebuke of Trump's actions and rhetoric.
McConnell said the mob breached the Capitol because it was fed "wild falsehoods" by Trump, who was "angry he had lost an election."
McConnell, like most Senate Republicans, refused to acknowledge for weeks that President Biden had won the election. But he publicly congratulated Biden on the floor in mid-December after the Electoral College certified the victory.
McConnell marked the day as when Trump "opened up a new chapter of wilder and more unfounded claims."
"The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise," the GOP leader said, adding that Trump "seemed determined to either overturn the voters decision or else torch our institutions on the way out."
Trump's legal team defended his actions on Jan. 6, when he repeated false claims that the election was "stolen" and encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol just as former Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers were counting the Electoral College votes.
Trump's team also argued that the former president did not realize that Pence was in danger.
McConnell rejected those claims, noting that attack played out on live television.
"We know that he was watching the same live television as the rest of us. A mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name. ... The president did not act swiftly. He did not do his job. He didn't take steps so federal law he could be faithfully executed and order restored," McConnell said.
But the GOP leader also said that impeaching Trump falls outside the Senate's jurisdiction because Trump is no longer in office. McConnell voted twice previously to try to declare the trial unconstitutional, an argument that has been rejected by a swath of legal scholars.
Though the House impeached Trump while he was still in office, the Senate trial didn't start until after Biden was sworn in. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried to get McConnell to bring the Senate back into session early to start the trial before Trump left office, but the GOP leader shot down the request.
"The question is moot because former President Trump is constitutionally not eligible," McConnell said.
McConnell, however, hinted that Trump could still face legal repercussions.
"President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office, as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has run. ... Didn't get away with anything yet," McConnell said.
Part of Mitch's new job description is to change Cryin' Chucks adult diaper for him...
“President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office”
What in the world did he do??? What is McTurtle talking about??
There aren’t two sides for him to play....
He doesn’t know Trump. Trump is so far above these people. We are far above these people. They are done and lashing out is frustration which will soo tut to desperation they’re running out of things to throw at us/Trump
Hey Mitchie and wife......YOU WILL BE EXPOSED FOR THE CHINA CRAP YOU ARE INTO!!! BIDEN & CO. WILL MAKE SURE YOU ARE DESTROYED! IDIOT!
again. dumbfounded that people in Kentucky can be found to vote for this guy.
he’s the black pot calling the kettle black. he’s the one who’s morally and legally responsible for the agent provocateur/false flag/pre-planned attack on the capitol: he, pelosi and the federal cops were in charge of intelligence and security. Trump supporters were the victims of the uniparty’s and the federal coppers’ failures.
Does he think the “MOB” is stupid, that we didn’t see what happened on November 3rd, that we couldn’t think for ourselves? The people who voted for McConnell and kept his a$$ in business for too many years, he now refers to as “THE MOB” .
They dont have much choice to vote for him... it’s like that in a lot of states unfortunately.
Do any of these idiots realize that almost none of the more than 80 million people who actually voted for Trump will vote for them ever again. And almost none of the maybe 65 million people who voted for Biden will either. Anti-Trump swamp creature Republicans are all on borrowed time when it comes to their political careers.
*itch can get in the kiss my ^ss line right behind Mobster Nancy.
The push back from Trump supporters is getting to him. Good!
That only scratches the surface of the contempt, disgust and loathing that I have for these people. The one huge “plus” that I take from all of this is that the mask has been almost totally ripped away from these backstabbing, self serving pricks and asshats.
“Know thine Enemy”
“Paybacks are a bitch” as we used to say in the Corps.
It’s coming.
Mitch McConnell.....You are an A$$hole.
Old saying: Your azz is grass now!
At this point I would love to see a line to to gallows and watch them one by one
I remember reading shortly after Dementia Joe was installed McConnell made the statement that he never wants to speak to President Trump ever again. I believe the GOPe are as anxious as the dems for President Trump to just go away and not try to run again in 2024.
Your words are way too kind for these corrupt, poor excuses for human beings.
Immoral reckless statement by Mitch.
Mitch told Trump not to talk about The Steal, on the Senate floor, at the trial.
So Trump's team doesn't talk about The Steal.
And then, when it's all over, and Trump is not able to defend himself, Mitch, on the Senate floor, accuses Trump of lying about The Steal.
Doesn't get worse than that by a politician.
McConnell and Pelosi and Bowser are most certainly responsible for failing to protect the Capitol.
Mitch’ is working to erase Trump’s legacy and destroy his future. China is McConnell’s liability
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