Trump impeachment is ‘partisan farce’; ‘zero chance’ of conviction: Rand Paul

US Republican Senator Rand Paul has said the upcoming impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump has "zero chance" that he will be convicted, describing it as a "partisan farce."

Paul said the Senate impeachment trial is “over before it starts”, however, noted that he opposed the "misguided notion of voting to overturn the election either with Congress or the vice president" that Trump pushed. 

“Zero chance of conviction. 45 Republicans have said it's not even a legitimate proceeding, so it's really over before it starts,” Paul said.

The Kentucky senator said one of the reasons the trial will fail is the decision of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts not to preside over the impeachment trial in the Senate, which underlines its partisan essence.

"Justice Roberts said heck no, I'm not coming across the street because you're not impeaching the president," Paul said. "This was a strong signal to all of us that this was going to be a partisan hearing with a Democrat in the chair, who's already voted for impeachment."

Trump is the first president in US history to have been impeached twice, this time for "incitement of insurrection" in the wake of the January attack on the US Capitol by his supporters as Congress was certifying the victory of Joe Biden in the November 3 election.

Paul slammed the whole proceedings as a “partisan farce” meant to further demonize Republicans.

“And to my mind, it's a partisan farce because they're not doing anything to Chuck Schumer, not doing anything to Representative Omar, not doing anything to Maxine Waters. It's just not fair. It's just partisan politics under a different name.”

Before the Capitol siege, Trump had urged his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” 

Paul said, “Are we going to impeach, and potentially criminally prosecute people for political speech when they say, 'Get up and fight for your country, let your voices be heard.'?”

The Kentucky senator called on Democrats to look within their own ranks, saying using the same logic as those who are pushing for the Trump trial, Democratic politicians, like Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, should also be prosecuted for "political speech".

"If we're going to criminalize speech, and somehow impeach everybody who says, 'Go fight to hear your voices heard,' I mean really we ought to impeach Chuck Schumer then," he said.

"He went to the Supreme Court, stood in front of the Supreme Court and said specifically, 'Hey Gorsuch, Hey Kavanaugh, you've unleashed a whirlwind. And you're going to pay the price."

"This inflammatory wording, this violent rhetoric of Chuck Schumer was so bad that the chief justice, who rarely says anything publicly, immediately said this kind of language is dangerous as a mob tried to invade the Supreme Court," Paul continued.

Just a week after the Capitol storming on January 6, House Democrats voted to impeach Trump for “incitement of insurrection,” claiming he is to blame for the deadly Capitol violence because of his speech

Ex-President Trump to face 2nd impeachment trial in Congress

After a 2020 full of tension and political protests, the United States is about to be consumed by the 2nd impeachment trial of ex-president Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, the Senate will begin its trial. A conviction will require a two-thirds majority of senators, which is currently divided 50/50 between Democrats and Republicans.

Trump's legal team has strongly denied all the allegations against him, stating that Trump urged the rioters to "stay peaceful" amid the protests of January 6.

Trump's lawyers have said they will use a video of Democrats' “inciting violence” as a counter to the argument that the former president is to blame for the Capitol attack.

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