A few weeks ago, it seemed that Democrats might have the votes needed to convict Donald Trump in his upcoming impeachment trial. Senators like Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski seemed likely to vote against the 45th President.
Mitch McConnell, then seemed like he might be willing to convict Trump as well. It doesn’t seem, however, that Democrats would have the 17 votes they need from Republicans.
Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) created a bi-partisan compromise where Trump would be censured. Like with impeachment, if Trump were censured, he would be barred from ever running for public office again.
The votes don’t seem to be there for censure. Kaine said of the measure, “We don’t have enough support on the Republican side because they don’t want to bar Trump from running from office, and I don’t have enough support on the Democratic side because for most of my colleagues it’s impeachment or nothing.”
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Sen. Kaine on censuring former Pres. Trump:
"We don't have enough support on the Republican side because they don't want to bar Trump from running from office, and I don't have enough support on the Democratic side because for most of my colleagues it's impeachment or nothing." pic.twitter.com/ltfgxBLCYA
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) February 2, 2021
Reporters also asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer about the possibility of censuring Trump on Tuesday. “I think the president should be tried,†Schumer said. “Anything past that is something we can discuss, but he deserves conviction, nothing less.”
Watch a clip of Schumer’s answer below, courtesy of ABC News:
Senate Majority Leader Schumer on former President Trump's impeachment trial and the possibility of censure instead: "He deserves conviction, nothing less." https://t.co/DFbXFoXh6K pic.twitter.com/YILBs4pahB
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 2, 2021
Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.
