Sen. Rand Paul took aim at Democrats on the Senate floor for what he called a “partisan” impeachment push that would only help further “divide the country.”
“Democrats claim to want to unify the country, but impeaching a former president, a private citizen, is the antithesis of unity,” Paul said.
The House impeachment managers delivered the articles to the Senate Monday, triggering a Senate trial against former President Donald Trump for his role in allegedly “inciting insurrection” in a speech shortly before a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building.
But the Senate trial is already shrouded in controversy over whether or not a former president can be impeached, with Chief Justice John Roberts declining to preside over what will be a second impeachment trial against Trump.
Paul noted the absence of Roberts, accusing Democrats of “brazenly” appointing “pro-impeachment” Sen. Patrick Leahy “to preside over the trial.”
“If we are about to try to impeach a president, where is the chief justice?” Paul asked. “If the accused is no longer president, where is the constitutional power to impeach him?”
BREAKING: @RandPaul UNLOADS on Impeachment, the Media and Democrats’ Double Standard.
WOW pic.twitter.com/ZWFYN8KOZq
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 26, 2021
The Kentucky Republican also questioned the Senate’s move to impeach a private citizen.
“Impeachment is for removal from office, and the accused here has already left office,” Paul said. “Hyperpartisan Democrats are about to drag our great country down into the gutter of rancor and vitriol, the likes of which has never been seen in our nation’s history.”
“Instead of doing the nation’s work with their new majorities in the House, Senate, and the executive branch, Democrats are wasting the nation’s time on a partisan vendetta against a man no longer in office,” Paul argued.
Paul accused Democrats of spending four years using Trump “as their bogeyman,” causing them now to fear having to “actually convince Americans that their policy prescriptions are the right ones.”
He went on to argue that “Democrats are insisting the election is actually not over, and so they insist on regurgitating the bitterness of the election. This acrimony they are about to unleash has never before been tried. Why? Because calmer heads have typically prevailed in our history.”
A longtime ally of Trump, Paul called the case against the former president a “sham,” arguing that Trump’s speech did the opposite of incite violence at the Capitol.
“I know everyone here will soon march to the Capitol to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” Paul said, quoting Trump’s Jan. 6 speech shortly before the Capitol riot.
“Hardly words of violence,” Paul argued before quoting some Democratic lawmakers to claim that their words could be considered incitement of violence.
“But what of Democrat words?” Paul asked. “What of Democrat incitement to violence? No Democrat will honestly ask whether Bernie Sanders incited the shooter that nearly killed Steve Scalise and a volunteer coach.”
“The shooter nearly pulled off a massacre, I was there, because he fervently believed the false and inflammatory rhetoric spewed by Bernie and other Democrats — such as ‘The Republican healthcare plan for the uninsured is that you die,’” Paul continued. “As this avowed Bernie supporter shot Steve Scalise … he screamed, ‘This is for healthcare!'”
Paul brought up an incident he and his wife had encountered in August, when they were nearly assaulted by a mob of protesters after leaving the Republican National Convention.
“My wife and I were pushed and surrounded and screamed at by this same type of mob Maxine likes to inspire. It’s terrifying to have a swarm of people threatening to kill you, curse at you, and literally hold you hostage until police come to your rescue,” Paul said. “But no Democrat has ever considered impeaching Maxine for her violent rhetoric.”
Paul promised to “insist on a vote to affirm that this proceeding we are about to enter is unconstitutional. That impeachment of a private citizen is illegal and essentially a bill of attainder.”
He concluded by declaring that the impeachment “trial is a sham, a travesty, and a dark blot on the history of our country” and pleaded with lawmakers to “reconsider this kangaroo court and move forward to debate the great issues of our day.”
Paul’s comments on the Senate floor largely echoed those of an op-ed he wrote earlier Tuesday in the Washington Examiner, in which he called the impeachment trial a “sham” and a “dark blot on the history of our country.”
