Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) remarked in an interview with CNN that he had trouble understanding one of former President Donald Trump’s defense attorneys during the first day of Trump’s impeachment trial.
The attorney, Bruce Castor, drew heavy criticism for a rambling performance that confused even Trump’s allies in the Senate. The New York Times reported that “At times, Mr. Castor appeared to be arguing for Mr. Trump’s free speech rights and against a partisan cycle of impeachments. As the lawyer spoke, senators in the chamber sometimes appeared confused or uninterested.”
To that end, Durbin said he “gave up” trying to understand Castor and follow his train of thought.
“They really expected a spirited defense of the president and that didn’t happen,” Durbin said of Republicans in the Senate. “I wanted to take notes to follow, and I just gave up on Mr. Castor. I couldn’t understand his line of thinking.”
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He added that Republicans appeared “disappointed” by Castor’s performance.
“You just can’t expect to stand up in front of a group like that and read for an hour and expect to make an impact,” Durbin said. “I really believe that the House managers did a professional job, the video they played was just an amazing piece of work to start this and the arguments they made were understandable.”Â
“I’m not sure where they’re going with this,” he added. “It’s not a very strong position and it’s understandable why they’ve had a very tough time enlisting lawyers to argue it.”Â
You can watch Durbin’s interview below.
Republicans "really expected a spirited defense of the [former] President, and it didn't happen," @SenatorDurbin said about day one of the Senate impeachment trial. "I wanted to take notes to follow, and I just gave up on Mr. Castor. I couldn't understand his line of thinking." pic.twitter.com/ZX2DBS4asP
— CNN This Morning (@CNNThisMorning) February 10, 2021
Durbin’s comments come amid reports that House impeachment managers plan to introduce more footage from the Capitol insurrection during today’s proceedings. Yesterday, a 13-minute video of the chaos that took place on January 6, the day Trump’s supporters stormed the United States Capitol in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 general election at Trump’s behest, left lawmakers stunned.
Trump has been holed up in his Mar-a-Lago residence. He has been watching the trial and was reportedly displeased with Castro’s performance.
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
