US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has berated his fellow party member, Senator Mitch McConnell, over the criticism the latter directed at the former US President Donald Trump in the wake of the recent impeachment trial.
According to Fox News, even though McConnell did vote in Trump’s favor, he also argued that Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events" that transpired at the US Capitol on 6 January.
"I think Sen. McConnell's speech, he got a load off his chest, obviously, but unfortunately he put a load on the back of Republicans", Graham remarked. "That speech you will see in the 2022 campaigns."
Sen. Graham also warned that Trump’s recent impeachment sets what may become a dangerous precedent, suggesting that Vice President Kamala Harris could "get impeached if the Republicans take over the House, because she actually bailed out rioters, and one of the rioters went back to the streets and broke somebody's head open".
"So we've opened Pandora's box here, and I'm sad for the country", he noted.
On 13 February, the US Senate voted to acquit Donald Trump on his second impeachment trial, with those seeking to impeach the 45th POTUS ultimately failing to muster the necessary two-thirds majority.
While McConnell did vote to acquit Trump, the NYT previously reported that the senator privately indicated that he was "pleased" that the Democrats had impeached the 45th POTUS again, arguing that it would "make it easier to purge him from the party".
Trump ended up becoming the first US president in history to be impeached twice during his term in office, with the second impeachment proceedings being initiated days after a group of Trump’s supporters besieged the Capitol building in a bid to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden's win in the 3 November presidential polls.
