What a difference a week makes ... President Trump is now very clearly asking his supporters to call off any violent plots around next week's inauguration.

His dramatic change of tune came hours after the House of Representatives voted to impeach him -- for a historic 2nd time -- for inciting the Capitol insurrection. Trump said, "I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week. Violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country and no place in our movement."

In the video message, recorded in the Oval Office, he spoke directly to his loyal followers, saying ... "No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence. No true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law enforcement or our great American flag."


Of course, just one week ago he told his assembled followers in Washington D.C. to show strength to take back the country, and then directed them to march to the Capitol where Congress was voting to verify Joe Biden's Presidential victory.

Reaction among celebrity Twitter was as swift as it was brutal

Twitter/Getty


Moments after Wednesday's vote, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell rejected calls to summon Senators back to Washington early for the second impeachment trial, instead of waiting until their first regular meeting at the very earliest on January 19.

He claimed there was "simply no chance that a fair or serious trial" before the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20.

"This is not a decision I am making; it is a fact," he said. "The President-Elect himself stated last week that his inauguration on January 20 is the 'quickest' path for any change in the occupant of the presidency."

Unlike the simple majority of the House, a two-thirds majority is needed in the Senate to convict Trump. This would require the support of several GOP Senators, many of whom have not ruled that out — including McConnell himself.

1/6/21
"SHOW STRENGTH AND BE STRONG"
Fox News

In his new message, Trump referenced FBI intelligence about plans for violent protests in all 50 states on and before Inauguration Day. He said the National Guard and law enforcement will ensure the transition to Biden will happen "safely and without incident."

Trump also griped about censorship, a reference to his ban from multiple digital platforms like Twitter. He never mentioned his impeachment, but it certainly seems he's going overboard to distance himself from the Capitol violence.

He'd already released a written statement earlier in the day condemning the riots, and this was his 2nd video message doing the same.

One part of the video that might be hard to swallow was his claim that ... "Like all of you, I was shocked and deeply saddened at the calamity at the Capitol last week."

More than 220 members of Congress obviously don't believe he could genuinely be shocked about the violence he incited.

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time, a move that drew support from a handful of Republicans who agreed that Trump incited violence at the Capitol last week.

Trump was impeached on an insurrection charge after 232 members of Congress voted for it and 197 voted against it.

The article of impeachment was debated one week after a deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the day Congress counted the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden's win. The rampage that interrupted the count left one police officer dead, a rioter fatally shot, and three others died from medical emergencies.

The article of impeachment charges the president with "incitement of insurrection" for "spreading false statements" about the election and challenging the Electoral College results.


Here are the top takeaways from Wednesday's impeachment proceedings:

10 Republicans vote to impeach Trump

Though Republicans were united in opposing the first impeachment of Trump in 2019, 10 broke ranks Wednesday when they voted alongside Democrats to impeach the president.

They included the third-ranking House Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. She was joined by:

  • Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y. 
  • Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.
  • Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash.
  • Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.
  • Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.
  • Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich.
  • Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C.
  • Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif.
  • Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio

“The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and let the flame of this attack,” Cheney said in a stark, three-paragraph statement. “Everything that followed was his doing."

Cheney's words became a key argument for Democrats as they urged their Republican colleagues to join them in voting for impeachment.

“This is not some irresponsible new member of the Congress of the United States. This is the daughter of the former Republican whip and a former vice president of the United States of America,” Majority Leader Steney Hoyer, D-Md., said of his Republican colleague from Wyoming whose father is former Vice President Dick Cheney. “She knows of what she speaks.”

Cheney's support for impeachment drew condemnation from fellow Republicans such as Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who called for her to step down.

Cheney said Wednesday she would not give up her position in party leadership.

“Last week, there was a domestic threat at the door of the Capitol, and he did nothing to stop it. That is why with a heavy heart and clear resolve, I will vote yes on these articles of impeachment,” Newhouse said to applause from the Democratic side of the House.

Newhouse said that although the article of impeachment is flawed, “there’s no excuse for President Trump’s actions.”

Four House Republicans skipped Wednesday's impeachment vote: Reps. Kay Granger of Texas, Andy Harris of Maryland, Greg Murphy of North Carolina and Daniel Webster of Florida. Harris, an anesthesiologist, said in a statement he decided to take care of patients rather than vote. Murphy skipped the vote to take care of his wife, who just went through back surgery. Webster said there were "family medical obligations." A Granger spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Other Republicans acknowledge Trump wrongdoing but call impeachment divisive

Though some Republicans split with their party, the majority opposed impeachment, and many argued that removing Trump from office would further splinter an already divided country. Others said Trump's efforts to question the election results and stoke a violent mob require a response.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said Trump gave a fiery speech outside the White House before the crowd rioted in the Capitol, but he shouldn’t be blamed for the “lunatic fringe” of his political movement.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Trump bears some responsibility for the riot, which he called “undemocratic, un-American and criminal,” but "impeaching the president in such a short time frame would be a mistake."

"A vote to impeach will further divide the nation. A vote to impeach will further fan the flames of partisan division," he said.

McCarthy said Trump should have immediately denounced the mob. He said the president should work to quell brewing unrest and ensure a peaceful transition to Biden.

A censure resolution would be prudent instead of impeachment, McCarthy said. Censuring the president would deliver a formal reprimand to Trump, but Republicans such as Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs are opposed to that measure as well.

Some House Republicans argued Wednesday that instead of impeaching Trump, Congress should create a commission to study what happened last week. Modeled after the bipartisan commission that analyzed the 9/11 terrorism attacks, the body would recommend how to prevent attacks on the Capitol.

The top Republican on the House Rules Committee urged lawmakers not to move forward with a snap impeachment, saying it would deny Trump due process.

“Rather than seeking to heal America, they’re trying to divide us more deeply," Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said as the House set up rules for debate on the impeachment resolution.

Democrats stress the importance of moving swiftly

The last time Trump was impeached, it took months. Democrats said a long inquiry wasn't needed this time.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who has participated in all four modern impeachment investigations, said there was no need for an extensive review of the facts and evidence required in previous cases.

“What happened this time was in plain view,” Lofgren said. “He incited a right-wing mob of insurrections to come and overturn constitutional government a week ago. You don’t need a long investigation to find that out.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., quoted President Abraham Lincoln, St. Paul from the Bible, and President John F. Kennedy in arguing that lawmakers bear a responsibility to remove Trump’s threat to the country. "He must go," she said. "He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love."

Although Trump has only days left in his presidency, House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said he poses a continuing threat to the nation, to the integrity of elections, and to democratic order.

“He must not remain in power one moment longer,” Nadler said.

"Is there little time left? Yes,” Hoyer said. “But it is never too late to do the right thing."

Trump becomes the first president to be impeached twice

House Democrats impeached Trump in December 2019 on charges that he abused the power of his office and obstructed Congress in his dealings with Ukraine. The Republican-led Senate acquitted him in February 2020.

He was accused of pressuring Ukraine's president to investigate Biden and his son Hunter to help Trump win the 2020 election.

The Senate vote less than a year ago was far shy of the two-thirds majority needed for conviction. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah was the only Republican to join Democrats in voting to convict on one of the articles.

Two other presidents have been impeached – Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton – but Trump became the first to be impeached twice. No president has been removed from office.

What comes next?

The House's vote to impeach Trump is just the first step on the road to removing him from office, which would require a Senate vote to convict Trump of the charge of insurrection. The Senate probably will not convene for a trial until Trump has left office and Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

The Senate is on a recess break and is set to reconvene Tuesday – the day before the inauguration. Democrats hope to immediately move forward on a trial, but the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office and indicated a trial would not occur until the Senate is back in session, according to Doug Andres, a spokesman for McConnell.

Democrats said convicting Trump could ensure he is unable to take office again, preventing him from running for a second term as president in 2024 as he indicated he plans to do.

Democrats are reluctant to begin a trial just as Biden's term begins. Pelosi said she's reviewing the timing but hasn't announced a decision on when to transmit the article to the Senate.

While McConnell controls the Senate floor and its schedule, Schumer, D.N.Y., has floated the possibility of invoking a rarely used emergency provision that would force the Senate back in session if both leaders consented. McConnell won't consent, his spokesman said.

Donald Trump on Wednesday became the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice, as 10 of his fellow Republicans joined Democrats in the House of Representatives to charge him with inciting an insurrection in last week’s violent rampage in the Capitol.

The vote in the Democratic-controlled House was 232-197 following the deadly assault on American democracy, although it appeared unlikely the swift impeachment would lead to Trump’s ouster before his four-year term ends, and Democratic President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

The Senate’s Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, rejected Democratic calls for a quick impeachment trial, saying there was no way to conclude it before Trump leaves office. But even if he has left the White House, a Senate conviction of Trump could lead to a vote on banning him from running for office again.

The House passed a single article of impeachment – a formal charge – accusing Trump of “incitement of insurrection,” focused on an incendiary speech he delivered to thousands of supporters shortly before the pro-Trump mob rampaged through the Capitol. The mob disrupted the formal certification of Biden’s victory over Trump in the Nov. 3 election, sent lawmakers into hiding, and left five people dead, including a police officer.

During his speech, Trump repeated false claims that the election was fraudulent and exhorted supporters to march on the Capitol.

In a video statement released after the vote, Trump did not mention the impeachment vote and took no responsibility for his remarks to supporters last week, but condemned the violence.

“Mob violence goes against everything I believe in and everything our movement stands for. No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence. No true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law and order,” Trump said.

With thousands of rifle-carrying National Guard troops inside and outside the Capitol, an emotional debate unfolded in the same House chamber where lawmakers had crouched under chairs and donned gas masks on Jan. 6 as rioters clashed with police officers outside the doors.

“The president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said on the House floor before the vote. “He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”

At a later ceremony, she signed the article of impeachment before it is sent to the Senate, saying she did it “sadly, with a heartbroken over what this means to our country.”

No U.S. president has ever been removed from office through impeachment. Three – Trump in 2019, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Andrew Johnson in 1868 – previously were impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate.

Democratic congressman Joaquin Castro called Trump “the most dangerous man to ever occupy the Oval Office.” Congresswoman Maxine Waters accused Trump of wanting civil war and fellow Democrat Jim McGovern said the president “instigated an attempted coup.”

‘PRESIDENT BEARS RESPONSIBILITY’

Some Republicans argued the impeachment drive was a rush to judgment that bypassed the customary deliberative process such as hearings and called on Democrats to abandon the effort for the sake of national unity and healing.

“Impeaching the president in such a short time frame would be a mistake,” said Kevin McCarthy, the House’s top Republican. “That doesn’t mean the president is free from fault. The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters.”

Trump’s closest allies, such as Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, went further, accusing Democrats of recklessly acting out of pure political interest.

“This is about getting the president of the United States,” said Jordan, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump in a private White House ceremony this week. “It’s always been about getting the president, no matter what. It’s an obsession.”

‘i'm CHOOSING TRUTH’

Ten Republicans voted to impeach, including Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican.

“I am not choosing aside, I’m choosing truth,” Republican Jamie Herrera Beutler said in announcing her support for impeachment, drawing applause from Democrats. “It’s the only way to defeat fear.”

In a break from standard procedure, Republican House leaders refrained from urging their members to vote against impeachment, calling the vote a matter of individual conscience.

Under the U.S. Constitution, impeachment in the House triggers a trial in the Senate. A two-thirds majority would be needed to convict and remove Trump, meaning at least 17 Republicans in the 100-member chamber would have to join the Democrats.

McConnell has said no trial could begin until the Senate was scheduled to be back in regular session on Jan. 19, one day before Biden’s inauguration. The trial would proceed in the Senate even after Trump leaves office.

McConnell, who is reported to be furious with Trump, said in a memo to his fellow Republicans that he had not made a final decision on how he will vote on impeachment in the Senate.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who is set to become majority leader later this month, said in a statement that no matter the timing, “there will be an impeachment trial in the United States Senate; there will be a vote on convicting the president for high crimes and misdemeanors; and if the president is convicted, there will be a vote on barring him from running again.”

The Capitol siege raised concerns about political violence in the United States once considered all but unthinkable. The FBI has warned of armed protests planned for Washington and all 50 U.S. state capitals ahead of Biden’s inauguration.

Trump on Wednesday urged his followers to remain peaceful, saying in a statement: “I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for.”

Impeachment is a remedy devised by America’s 18th century founders to enable Congress to remove a president who has, according to the Constitution, committed “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” If Trump is removed before Jan. 20, Vice President Mike Pence would become president and serve out his term.

The House impeached Trump after he ignored calls for his resignation and Pence rebuffed Democratic demands to invoke a constitutional provision to remove the president.

The House previously voted to impeach Trump in December 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress stemming from his request that Ukraine investigates Biden and his son Hunter ahead of the election, as Democrats accused him of soliciting foreign interference to smear a domestic political rival. The Senate in February 2020 voted to keep Trump in office.

Wednesday’s article of impeachment accused Trump of “incitement of insurrection,” saying he provoked violence against the U.S. government in his speech to supporters. The article also cited Trump’s Jan. 2 phone call asking a Georgia official to “find” votes to overturn Biden’s victory in the state.

During his Jan. 6 speech, Trump falsely claimed he had defeated Biden, repeated unfounded allegations of widespread fraud and irregularities in a “rigged” election, told his supporters to “stop the steal,” “show strength,” “fight much harder” and use “very different rules” and promised to go with them to the Capitol, although he did not.

“If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump told his supporters.