Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday the Senate would acquit President Donald Trump if the impeachment trial were held today.
“I will say I’m pretty sure how it’s likely to end,” McConnell told reporters, according to Politico. “If it were today I don’t think there’s any question — it would not lead to a removal. So the question is how long does the Senate want to take? How long do the presidential candidates want to be here on the floor of the Senate instead of in Iowa and New Hampshire?”
McConnell has been highly critical of the Democrats’ impeachment process against Trump, arguing last week that the president was being denied due process. McConnell has said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is “in the clutches of a left-wing mob” that caused her to pursue impeachment. (RELATED: Mitch McConnell Falls Outside His Home, Fractures Shoulder)
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), flanked by Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) and Senator John Thune (R-SD) holds a news conference following the weekly Senate party caucus luncheons at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 10, 2019. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
McConnel has yet to meet with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to plan for a Senate trial in the event of the House passing articles of impeachment. McConnell admitted in early October that if the House moved forward, it would give him “no choice” but to continue the proceedings in the Senate. (RELATED: Mitch McConnell Blasts Democrats For ‘Moscow Mitch’ Attacks)
“It is a Senate rule related to impeachment that would take 67 votes to change,” he said on CNBC. “I would have no choice but to take it up. How long you’re on it is a whole different matter, but I would have no choice but to take it up, based on a Senate rule on impeachment.”