Iran Press/America: Trump was impeached in the US House of Representatives this month for “incitement of insurrection” after some of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6 as Congress met to certify the election victory of President Joe Biden.
While some Republicans in the Senate, where an impeachment trial is set to begin in February, have criticized Trump’s actions, several say they oppose moving forward with the proceedings after Trump has left office.
55 senators voted that it should, but it did suggest that Democrats face an uphill battle to get the 67 senators they will need for a conviction on a two-thirds majority vote.
“If it is a good idea to impeach and try former Presidents, what about former Democratic Presidents when Republicans get the majority in 2022?” John Cornyn, a 19-year veteran of the Senate, said in a tweet directed at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Saturday.
“Think about it and let’s do what is best for the country,” Cornyn wrote.
A Rand Paul of Kentucky also challenged the legitimacy of the trial, arguing on a point of order that, since Trump is no longer president, pressing ahead with it “violates the constitution”.
Trump is the first president in US history to be impeached twice and the first to face trial after leaving office.
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