CNN's Manu Raju spoke to several Republicans after the Democrats finished their presentation and many of them praised the work, noting that they did a much better job than the 2020 impeachment on the Ukraine bribery scheme.
Still, however, Republicans intend to acquit former President Donald Trump, even if they believe the Democrats' case, said Bulwark writer Tim Miller on MSNBC. He said that Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) isn't going to support impeachment because he wants to run for governor in Wisconsin and he'll have to get through a primary race.
"I have to compliment the impeachment managers just in terms of their presentation preparation," Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told Raju, according to his tweets. "I thought it was excellent. I don't agree with everything. But I think they set the standard pretty high" for the Trump team. "I think the real question is what's on (Trump's) mind? The biggest concern I have is about the idea of impeaching a former officeholder without explicit authorization in the constitution and what that means to [exact] retribution on political opponents"
Many Republican senators were spotted throughout the week ignoring the proceedings. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) appeared to be reading unrelated documents and tweeted about breast milk. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) was seen with his feet up reading as well. According to Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) pretended to be paying attention but was actually doing something on a "concealed" iPad.