Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said Monday (Feb. 15) that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s “scathing” comments about former President Trump do not represent the views of most Republican senators .
In an interview with U.S. radio host Jay Weber on Monday, Johnson said McConnell, as Senate Republican leader, voted not to impeach Trump, but then he made a “pointed” statement against him on the Senate floor. His speech did not reflect the views of most Republicans.
Johnson added that while McConnell has a right to express his opinion, “he has to realize that as our leader, what he says reflects badly on us.”
“I don’t particularly like it.” Johnson added.
On Saturday (Feb. 13), the Senate voted on Trump’s impeachment and ultimately acquitted him of the charges after failing to meet the threshold required for conviction. McConnell said after casting his not guilty vote that Trump had left office as president and become a civilian, and that it was unconstitutional to find him guilty of misconduct now. But he also condemned Trump for being “physically and morally responsible” for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
“There’s no question,” McConnell said, “that the people who broke into this building at the Time believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of President (Trump).”
McConnell also hinted that Trump could still face a lawsuit.
Trump called on his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically” make their voices heard during the joint session of Congress in a speech on Jan. 6. Democrats claimed that Trump was rallying and inciting violence and should be held accountable for the riots at the Capitol. A second impeachment of Trump was then launched.
Johnson said he agreed more with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Trump’s impeachment.
Graham tweeted on Feb. 13, “I hope I (am) proven wrong, but it seems impeachment based on partisan differences is becoming the norm, not the exception.”
“I fear that if this pattern is followed in the future, it will become the norm to initiate impeachments based on partisan animosity that disqualify people from office.” Graham added.
He said the goal of the House (Democrats) has never been to find out what really happened on Jan. 6 and then hold people accountable. Their goal was to put the blame “squarely and completely on Trump” no matter what.
Graham said in a Feb. 14 interview with Fox News that during the riots in the U.S. last year, then-Democratic Senator He Jinli also called for donations to bail out violent protesters who had been jailed. Graham said that if Republicans take control of the House next year, then why can’t He Jinli be impeached?
“Democrats sat on the sidelines and watched the country burn for a year and a half without saying a word of condemnation, and most Republicans are tired of the hypocrisy.” Graham said.
Johnson said he disagreed with Democrats’ characterization of the storming of the Capitol as an “armed insurrection,” adding that the impeachment trial “reveals nothing but hypocrisy.
“The people who supported Trump, the hundreds of thousands of people who attended those Trump rallies, those are the people who love this country. They would never do what happened on Jan. 6.” Johnson said, “That’s a group of people we need to rally around and get them on our side.”
In the interview, Sen. Johnson also criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for using the fence around the Capitol to portray “74 million Americans who voted for Trump” as potential “domestic terrorists “and “rioters.
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