Democrat lawmakers expressed frustration over the final day of the Senate trial that started Tuesday. In numerous tweets they stated that leaving Trump unaccountable for encouraging supporters to storm the US Capitol indicates that the lesson has remained unlearned.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi thanked the House impeachment managers, "who defended Constitution and Democracy" and slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his voting to acquit and keeping the Senate shut down after the elections for the Upper House concluded.
I salute the Republican Senators who voted their conscience and for our Country.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) February 13, 2021
Other Senate Republicans’ refusal to hold Trump accountable will go down as one of the darkest days and most dishonorable acts in our nation’s history.
As Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer noted, the impeachment outcome means that its now "open season for whoever has the biggest clubs, most powerful guns." He noted that 5 years ago, Republican Senators "warned what would become of their party if Trump became their nominee" and that now, there is “is nothing more un-American” and “antithetical to our democracy" then letting Trump get away with his crimes.
My fellow Americans—If this nation is going to long endure, we, as a people, cannot condone Trump’s conduct.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 13, 2021
If lying about elections is acceptable, if encouraging political violence becomes the norm, it will be open season for whoever has the biggest clubs, most powerful guns.
Senator Elizabeth Warren claimed that "even 7 Senate Republicans couldn’t stomach" the way that Trump encouraged "a mob of domestic terrorists" to break into the Capitol building. "Our democracy must be stronger than the former president and the 43 senators who sided with him today," she tweeted.
Donald Trump incited a mob of domestic terrorists to attack our Capitol and overturn the election. Even 7 Senate Republicans couldn’t stomach his act of insurrection. Our democracy must be stronger than the former president and the 43 senators who sided with him today.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 13, 2021
Similarly, Senator Dick Durbin noted that the Senate should have convicted Trump to “sent an unequivocal message that it's unacceptable for presidents to incite violence in order to stop the peaceful transition of power.” He also stressed that he voted “guilty” because House managers had “laid out an overwhelming case for conviction.”
I wish the Senate had sent an unequivocal message that it's unacceptable for presidents to incite violence in order to stop the peaceful transition of power. But it should not be lost that a majority of Senators—including seven from the President’s own party—voted to convict him.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) February 13, 2021
The leading House impeachment manager, Jamie Raskin, noted during a press briefing that the trial was “the most bipartisan impeachment vote ever.”
“And we know that we spoke the truth," he claimed.
President Trump incited a deadly insurrection at the Capitol — and it was the most bipartisan conviction vote in history and even Mitch McConnell agreed with the facts.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) February 13, 2021
The defendant, President Donald John Trump, was let off on a technicality.pic.twitter.com/pxDgkVJ3Jc
House manager Joaquin Castro noted that “Trump was let off on a technicality". According to Castro, his team “spoke the truth on Senate’s floor and the American people by a large [percentage] have agreed.”
“My reaction to the decision of the majority of Republican Senators not to convict Donald Trump despite the overwhelming evidence is not only sadness but also apprehension for the nation,” he said.
On Saturday, the five-day trial to impeach ex-president Donald Trump in the Senate for a second time was concluded as the upper body of the US government voted 57-43 to acquit him over the "incitement of insurrection" article.
The US House of representatives impeached Trump on 13 of January after Congress members agreed that he was responsible for the 6 January Capitol storming, that resulted in five deaths. The impeachment article was delivered to the Senate on 25 January, as the Upper House was on its holiday vacation.
