Following former President Donald Trump's indictment and arraignment in the federal January 6 investigation, MSNBC's Chris Hayes slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for avoiding the subject — after just two years ago proclaiming on the floor of the Senate that this was the correct way to hold the former president accountable for the attack on the Capitol.
"After January 6, Donald Trump was impeached by the House for the second time, the first president ever," said Hayes. "He could have been convicted in the Senate, and pursuant to the conviction, barred from holding future office." Several Republicans actually voted to do just that, Hayes noted — but McConnell "just washed his hands of the whole thing, shrugged, told the country, not my job to hold Donald Trump accountable, but maybe someone else will do it?"
"Our system of government gave a specific task," said McConnell in the clip Hayes played from the proceedings at the time. "The Constitution gives us a particular role. This body is not invited to act as the nation's overarching moral tribunal. President Trump is still liable for everything he did while in office as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations is run, still liable for everything he did while in office. He did not get away with anything yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation, and former presidents are not immune from being accountable to either one."
"Bravely standing on the Senate floor to dump the problem of a sociopathic, maniacal hater of democracy on someone else," said Hayes. "He should really do something about this guy. And thereby allowing the ex-president to escape accountability ... Mitch McConnell voted to acquit Donald Trump."
"So, now that someone else has actually done the thing that Mitch McConnell said they should do, hold him liable for his alleged crimes under a system of justice, gosh, we have not heard a lot from Mitch!" said Hayes. "He seemed silent on the matter. To be clear, we are where we are, with both accountability of Donald Trump and the fate of the American constitutional republic — I am not overstating things — hanging in the balance, a toss-up, because Mitch McConnell ... just refused to do the obvious, simple, straightforward thing."
"They could have just convicted him," added Hayes. "We would not be here, but they refused to convict him, for inciting a violent insurrection act, threatened a bunch of police officers, the life of the Vice President, an insurrection that went on for hours, violently in front of us, where over 1,000 people have been charged, that we all watched happen, the one that he incited, that we knew he incited, that they could have convicted him that, could have barred him from future office, but they did not. So now we have them to thank."
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Chris Hayes on Mitch McConnell's silence about Trump trialwww.youtube.com
