Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) defended the upcoming second impeachment trial of former President Trump on Monday, minutes before the House’s formal transmission of the article of impeachment charging Trump with “incitement of insurrection” to the Senate.
During an interview with MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow that will air Monday night, Schumer argued that the Senate needs to “look back” and deal with Trump’s conduct because “you can’t sweep some of these egregious things under the rug, plain and simple,” referring to Trump’s incitement of the violent insurrection at the Capitol that left five dead.
Schumer went on to torch Trump as “the worst president ever” who committed “the most despicable thing any president has ever done.”
“His act on the 6th was the most despicable thing any president has ever done. And he is the worst president ever,” Schumer said. “And you cannot just (say) ‘let’s move on.’”
Schumer’s defense of Trump’s second impeachment trial comes amid several Senate Republicans throwing cold water on it by rehashing a disputed legal argument. Some Senate Republicans have come forward to argue that impeaching the former president is unconstitutional now that he has left office, a convenient way to squirrel away from the issue as Trump looms large over the party.
Watch Schumer’s remarks below:
Some encouraging words from @SenSchumer in interview with @maddow:
“His act on the 6th was the most despicable thing any president has ever done. And he is the worst president ever. You can’t just say let’s move on, you gotta look back.” pic.twitter.com/kRkagyzjCb
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) January 25, 2021
