Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke with host Greg Kelly Tuesday, telling the Newsmax host that “this whole sham is not really constitutional”, referring to the Article of Impeachment brought to the Senate by House Democrats against the 45th Commander in Chief.
“We had a vote on the floor– 45 Republicans said, ‘Look, you can’t really impeach somebody whose already left office’. That doesn’t make any sense at all,” Senator Paul told Kelly after the Senate voted 55-45 to end debate on the Kentucky Senator’s point of order arguing that the impeachment trial is unconstitutional now that President Trump is out of office.
Senator Paul had told reporters earlier that he would make a point of order alleging that the trial is contrary to the Constitution — an argument that multiple Republican senators have made. That forced a vote on the point of order, requiring senators to go on the record about whether they believe the trial is constitutional, Fox News reported.
Five Republican senators, however, voted not to dismiss the impeachment trial of President Trump: Susan Collins (ME) Lisa Murkowski (AK) Ben Sasse (NE) and Pat Toomey (PA) and Mitt Romney (UT). They voted with all 50 Democrat senators to table the point of order.
Greg Kelly told Senator Paul, “So, 45 Republicans– wow. That would indicate the likelihood of conviction is zero. Is there anyway you’re going to be able to turn this thing off?”
The Kentucky Senator responded, “The impeachment is dead, it’s dead on arrival. It takes 67 votes. The Democrats could only muster 55 votes; 50 Democrats and 5 Republicans, who decided to vote with the Democrats. But they don’t have nearly enough.” Continued Below
Senator Paul also believes that impeachment against President Trump “divides the country”, noting, “It doesn’t unify anything”.
“Biden either means that he wants to unify the country or he’s just playing games with it. But if Biden had wanted to rise above this– if he really wanted to be a statesman, he could’ve said, ‘You know, many Democrats want this, but I think we should just move on and let the country heal’. And you know what? His numbers probably would’ve gone up 10 points the day he did that. But instead, they’ve chosen to beat this,” he said.
“I think it’s terrible thing they’re doing to the country. … I think these people are small people, very small people– pathetic, very bitter, and what they’re doing to the country is a terrible travesty,” Senator Paul expressed. Video Below
The Senate passed its pre-trial organizing resolution 83-17, and the impeachment trial will be adjourned until Tuesday, February 9, as Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had been pushing for. The Senate would need a two-thirds majority, or at least 67 votes, to convict the president.
Senator Rand Paul’s full exchange with Newmax’s Greg Kelly:
