Republicans Defend Trump for Incitement of Insurrection
Republican leaders and conservative media attempt to rewrite history and defend Trump’s failed January 6th insurrection despite the overwhelming video and photo evidence. Repeating the lies of voter fraud and freedom of speech, the vast majority of Republicans side with Trump and either vote against impeachment in the House or for acquittal in the Senate.
By Nicholas Fandos
All but five Republican senators voted to challenge the constitutionality of the trial, suggesting that Democrats were unlikely to find the 17 they would need to join them in convicting the former president ... By a vote of 55-to-45, the Senate narrowly killed a Republican effort to dismiss the proceeding as unconstitutional because Mr. Trump is no longer in office. But the numbers showed that loyal Republicans were again poised to spare him from conviction, this time despite his role in stirring up a mob that violently targeted lawmakers and the vice president on Jan. 6 as Congress met to finalize the election.
Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, on Tuesday at the Capitol. Credit: Oliver Contreras for The New York Times