Mairead McArdle writes for National Review Online about one high-profile Republican senator’s response to the second impeachment of Donald Trump.
Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) on Sunday called the effort to impeach former President Trump in order to bar him from running for office again “arrogant,” saying “voters get to decide” who is elected.
“I think that’s an arrogant statement for anyone to make,” Rubio responded when asked by host Chis Wallace on Fox News Sunday about whether Trump should be impeached to prevent a future campaign for office.
“Voters get to decide that. Who are we to tell voters who they can vote for in the future?” the Florida Republican asked.
The House is set to deliver the single article of impeachment against Trump on grounds of “incitement of insurrection” to the Senate on Monday, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) has said that the impeachment trial will begin the week of February 8.
In the impeachment article, Democrats cited the 14th Amendment, which prevents those who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S. from ever holding public office in the future.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) pushed to delay to Senate trial to give both the Trump team and Democratic prosecutors time to prepare their arguments, but is said to be pleased about the Democratic efforts to impeach Trump, saying he believes Trump has committed impeachable offenses and that the move will make it easier for Republicans to purge him from the party.
Rubio, however, disagrees, arguing that the process will “continue to fuel these divisions that have paralyzed the country.”
“The first chance I get to vote to end this trial, I will do it, because I think it’s really bad for America,” Rubio said.
Rubio, of course, was one of Trump’s top competitors for the Republican Party’s 2016 presidential nomination.
