Raleigh, North Carolina – The Republican Party of North Carolina is expected to vote on Monday over whether to censor Senator Richard Burr for his vote to condemn former President Donald Trump during Trump’s second impeachment trial. Party spokesman Tim Wigginton told several media outlets on Sunday that the group’s central committee would meet for the vote Monday night.
Burr is one of the seven republicans who voted to condemn Trump of “inciting insurrection” for his role in last month’s attack on the United States Capitol. Burr initially voted against the constitutionality of the trial, but said he decided to be an “impartial juror” as soon as the entire Senate decided to proceed.
North Carolina Republican Party President Michael Whatley said in a statement on Saturday that Burr’s vote for conviction “in a trial he declared unconstitutional is shocking and disappointing”.
Burr said in a statement after the trial that Trump “is responsible” for the US Capitol riot on January 6.
“The evidence is convincing that President Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection against a co-equal branch of the government and that the prosecution reaches the level of crimes and misdemeanors,” Burr said on Saturday. “So I voted to condemn.”
Ultimately, Trump was acquitted of the charge because the 57-43 vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for the sentencing.
Burr, who will retire at the end of his term, is not the only Republican who voted to condemn Trump who faces an adverse reaction. The Republican Party of Louisiana censored Senator Bill Cassidy just hours after the vote, the state Republican Party announced on Saturday, and the Republican Party of Nebraska made an effort to censor Senator Ben Sasse, which resulted from his rebuke to Trump after the attack of January 6. Sasse also voted to condemn the former president.