Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Told Fox News Sunday that former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate is “stupid” and damaging to the United States, even if Trump is responsible “for what happened “at the US Capitol on January 6.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. said on Friday that lawmakers will wait to hold Trump’s impeachment hearings for several weeks, delaying the start of the trial until the week of February 8.
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“Well, first of all, I think the trial is stupid. It is counterproductive,” Rubio said on Sunday. “We already have a burning fire in this country, and it’s like taking a pile of gasoline and pouring it over the fire.
“Secondly, I look back to a time, for example, Richard Nixon, who clearly committed crimes and transgressions, and in retrospect, I think we would all agree that President Ford’s forgiveness was important for the country to be able to move forward. And the story blamed Richard Nixon for what he did as a result. “
Former President Donald Trump and Melania Trump wave as they disembark from their last flight on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, Wednesday, January 20, 2021. (Photo by AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“I think the president is responsible for part of what happened. It was certainly a predictable consequence of everything that was happening, ”said Rubio. “All I am arguing is that we have some really important things to work on … We are going to jump back to what we have been through for the past five years and shake it up again with a trial, and that will be bad for the country.”
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Rubio said it was “arrogant” for Democrats to seek a Senate conviction to prevent Trump from running for office again.
“I think it’s an arrogant statement for anyone to make. Voters decide that. Who are we to tell voters who they can vote for in the future?” he said.
Rubio also reflected on the future of the Republican Party.
“The Republican Party is the party that named Donald Trump and the reason he did it – and finally elected him, and he got 75 million votes – is because you have tens of millions of Americans who feel that this economy is not working for people like them, who feel socially displaced, even as strangers in their own country, “said Rubio.
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“This is what I hope we will be a part of,” he added. “I hope we can do this in a way that keeps people who believe we’re fighting for them and brings back some of the people who may not have voted for the Republicans or voted for the president because they may not like, you know, the way it was said or the way it was done.
“I think it is quite possible, and I think this is the future of the Republican Party, because, frankly, the future of the country depends on it.”
Brittany De Lea of Fox Business contributed to this report.