The US Senate voted against convicting former President Donald Trump on charges of inciting violence and insurrection, with 43 senators rejecting the conviction.
On Saturday evening, the Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump of the charge of inciting insurrection and violence, as 57 senators, including 7 Republicans, voted for conviction, while 43 voted for acquittal, falling short by ten votes of the 67 needed for a majority. The US Senate began the voting process to convict or acquit former President Trump on the charge of inciting insurrection and rebellion following the riots that occurred on January 6 and the storming of the Capitol during a session to certify the presidential election results won by Joe Biden.
Before the vote, both the prosecution and Trump's legal team presented closing arguments, having agreed not to call witnesses for the trial. After the vote, former President Trump stated that the Senate trial represented another phase of the greatest witch hunt in American history, adding that the national movement has just begun. In his statement, Trump likened the trial to a "witch hunt."
For his part, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell claimed that Trump was morally and practically responsible for inciting the events that led to the Capitol breach, noting that he does not have the authority to vote for the conviction of a president who is no longer in office. McConnell had previously written to his colleagues - as reported by the media - "I will vote for acquittal," which ultimately led to the Democrats failing to secure the two-thirds majority needed in the Senate to convict Trump on the incitement charge.
Trump made history as the first American president to be impeached twice in Congress and will also go down in history as the first president tried while out of office. Most importantly, he will be remembered as the first president to survive two impeachments and to be acquitted.
It is noteworthy that if the former president had been convicted, he would have been barred from seeking public office again and from running in the upcoming presidential elections. Trump is accused of inciting insurrection after his supporters invaded the Capitol following a fiery speech he delivered from the White House, where he repeated his claims of election fraud and theft and urged them to fight to reclaim the election and overturn its results.
During the trial, House Democrats, who played the role of prosecutors in Trump's impeachment trial for inciting the Capitol breach, presented a video showing Trump supporters searching the building for Vice President Mike Pence and chanting, "Hang Mike Pence!"
