‘That’s Not Quite True’: Chris Wallace Confronts Rand Paul Over Opposition to Trump Senate Trial
Chris Wallace confronted Senator Rand Paul on Fox News Sunday over his opposition to holding the impeachment trial for Donald Trump in the first place.
Paul and others have defended the former president by pointing to rhetoric from Democrats, including remarks from Congresswoman Maxine Waters in 2018 about getting in the faces of Trump White House officials.
Wallace showed Paul comments of Trump’s January 6th speech before the riots and said, “Senator, you talk about other people who have said things, but you know, here there had been weeks of misrepresentations about the election. Then he called people to come to Washington. Then he talks about fighting like hell. People in the crowd are talking about going to the Capitol and then they demand to find Speaker Pelosi and to hang Mike Pence, the vice president of the United States. Is that not incitement for insurrection?”
Paul said he opposed overturning the election, while adding that he expects the Trump team to show the video of Waters and what some other Democrats have said. “People are going to have to judge for themselves, are we going to impeach and potentially criminally prosecute people for political speech when they get say, ‘Het up and fight for your country, let your voices be heard’?”
Wallace also asked about Paul’s objection to holding the trial in the first place, given how Trump is out of office, and noted, “The other side argues that under that standard, a president could abuse his power, quit at the last minute, and… the Senate would be unable to touch him under your standard.”
Paul said that Trump could be taken to court but again defended his position and said, “We’ve had a country for 250 years and every other Congress thought it was unwise to keep, you know, going after an ex-president. Constitutional scholars have said the Constitution says you impeach and disqualify. If the person isn’t there to impeach, you can’t do either one of them.”
Wallace jumped in and said, “That’s not quite true.”
He pointed out to the impeachment of William Belknap, who served as Secretary of War under Ulysses S. Grant, and how the Senate proceeded with the trial even though he was out of office. So Wallace asked if that case is “a solid precedent.”
Paul argued it’s different with a president, and said at one point Joe Biden should tell Democrats to move on if he really wants unity.
You can watch above, via Fox News Sunday.
