Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week that the mob who rioted at the Capitol earlier this month was “fed lies” and “provoked by the president,” which was the latest example of the Kentucky Republican trying to distance himself from Donald Trump.
Mainstream media and the Democrat Party had widely blamed Trump for instigating the violent protest that breached the Capitol while a joint session of Congress was taking place to confirm the Electoral College vote for Joe Biden. The chaos led to five deaths. Two were not related to attacks or violence, but one was a Capitol police officer who was allegedly beaten by protestors. A woman protester was shot in the neck by police.
Eighty-two people were arrested. The FBI has released dozens of photos seeking the public’s help to identify some of the protesters.
The Wall Street Journal reported McConnell said he is still considering whether or not to convict Trump during another impeachment trial. Politico, citing three unnamed sources, reported McConnell proposed moving the impeachment trial back to February so Trump’s legal team can prepare.
“Senate Republicans are strongly united behind the principle that the institution of the Senate, the office of the presidency, and former President Trump himself all deserve a full and fair process that respects his rights and the serious factual, legal, and constitutional questions at stake,” McConnell said in a statement.
Senator Rand Paul told Fox News’ Sean Hannity last week that if the new policy is to impeach anyone who incites a violent act, Senator Bernie Sanders should be impeached over the 2017 shooting of Representative Steve Scalise during a congressional baseball game. Scalise survived but was gravely wounded. Paul said,
“I was there at the ball field when he was shot… The guy was a rabid Bernie Sanders supporter. And you remember what Democrats were saying at the time? They were saying Republicans’ health care plan is you get sick and then you die. That sounds like an incitement. If you’re telling people that the Republican Party is going to kill you, why wouldn’t you then react violently and say we must kill them before they kill us?
Now, I don’t propose, I’m not serious about this. I don’t think Bernie Sanders should be impeached. But if you follow the logic that the president saying go fight for your country is somehow to be taken literally, even though he used the words peacefully, you’d have to examine Bernie Sanders’ language because one of his rabid supporters almost killed Steve Scalise.”
TREND FORECAST: This is the beginning of the formation of a new political party to replace the failing Republican Party. McConnell, Graham, and Senator Mitt Romney represent the Old GOP guard. As we had noted in 2016, we identified Donald Trump as the most likely candidate to defeat Hillary Clinton since he was considered an outsider while the party candidates were considered un-motivating establishment members who lacked the “populist” appeal.
