Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he hasn’t spoken to former President Donald Trump since Dec. 15, as reports said that McConnell has said he does not want to speak to Trump again after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“The last time I spoke with him was the day after I declared that Biden had obviously won the election after the Electoral College on [voted on] Dec. 14. It would have been Dec. 15,” McConnell told reporters after a weekly GOP Senate lunch, The Hill reported.
The Republican leader previously criticized Trump and his allies for spreading misinformation about the 2020 presidential election, saying his rhetoric provoked the mob to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
McConnell was also asked how he would vote on the impeachment of former President Donald Trump, to which he did not give a direct answer.
“With regard to impeachment issues, we’re going to be addressing that in great depth here beginning shortly. We’re going to be sworn in,” McConnell said.
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks to members of the press after the weekly Senate Republican Policy Luncheon at Hart Senate Office Building May 12, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
After his comments, McConnell and a majority of Republicans voted in favor of Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s motion to dismiss the impeachment trial against Trump. As Senators prepared for the impeachment trial, Paul introduced a motion arguing that the trial is unconstitutional since Trump is now a private citizen and exempt from facing removal from office.
However, five Republican Senators and every Senate Democrat voted to table the motion, pushing Trump’s impeachment trial forward. (RELATED: McConnell Votes In Favor Of Rand Paul’s Motion To Dismiss Trump’s Impeachment Trial, Five GOP Senators Opposed)
In order to convict Trump in the Senate, Democrats will need 17 Republican senators to side with every Democrat. (RELATED: Schumer Says Impeachment Trial Will Move Quickly, Won’t Need A Lot Of Witnesses)
Members were sworn in for trial on Tuesday. The arguments will start the week of Feb. 8, Schumer announced.