Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) on Sunday rejected the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump while suggesting that “another avenue” to hold Trump accountable is with “some criminal charge” and humiliation in the “court of public opinion.”
Wicker’s comments came during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” where he dismissed Trump’s impeachment as a “meaningless messaging partisan exercise.”
Host George Stephanopoulos noted that the actions Trump is being tried for, allegedly inciting a riot in the U.S. Capitol, had occurred while he was still in office and asked the senator if he should be held accountable.
“If being held accountable means being impeached by the House and being convicted by the Senate, the answer to that is no,” Wicker said. “Now if there are other ways in the court of public opinion or if there’s some criminal charge … dawns on some prosecutor, perhaps, there’s another avenue there.”
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Wicker also argued that the Constitution did not specify whether or not impeachment of a former president is permissible and said President Biden could have helped unify the government by intervening and calling for the trial not to proceed.
Democrats will need at least 17 GOP senators to vote in favor of impeachment in order to convict Trump, an outcome that is unlikely to happen with today’s Republican party.
Watch the interview below.
.@GStephanopoulos: Should Trump be held accountable for his actions Jan. 6?
Wicker: “If being held accountable means being impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate, the answer to that is no.”
GS: Censure?
Wicker: “… that ship has sailed.” https://t.co/cHyBh0ajXy pic.twitter.com/I6g1b15aZN
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 7, 2021
