Former Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy slammed the second attempt to impeach former President Donald Trump and predicted that Democrats aren’t going to be successful.
“I can tell you having done trial work, when you start the trial with half of the jury thinking you shouldn’t even be there, you’re not going to win,” Gowdy said on Fox News Monday in response to a question about the prospects of Trump being impeached for “inciting” the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. “None of those 45 will change their mind.”
Forty-five senators supported Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s motion last month deeming the impeachment of a private citizen as unconstitutional.
Gowdy said he believes Democrats chose the “dumbest of all impeachment articles” as a result of their haste to impeach the president, adding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is more concerned about the court of public opinion than the position of the 100 senators in Congress.
The former prosecutor also warned Democrats about penalizing political rhetoric by pointing out inflammatory comments made by Democrats in the past.
“You know what, if you’re going to start penalizing hot political rhetoric, let’s do it for both sides,” Gowdy said after mentioning Vice President Kamala Harris’s treatment of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett during her confirmation hearing.
Trump’s Senate trial is set to begin on Tuesday, as Democrats hope to impeach him for a second time and prevent him from running for office in the future. Democrats need 17 Republican senators to break ranks and join all 50 members of their party in order to successfully convict Trump.
