U.S. reacts to impeachment after Capitol riot; Trump releases new video

There were some who saw the historic vote to impeach President Donald Trump a second time as poetic justice. Others decried the vote as further dividing the country when polarizing politics have contributed to the country’s current state of turmoil.

The historic U.S. House of Representatives’ majority vote of 232-197 to impeach Trump on the charge of incitement of insurrection drew myriad reactions online Wednesday evening. The charge comes one week after a pro-Trump rally in which the president riled his audience of loyalists. They traveled toward the U.S. Capitol, transforming from spirited protest to deadly insurrection.

Ten Republicans fled Trump, joining Democrats who said he needed to be held accountable and warned ominously of a “clear and present danger” if Congress should leave him unchecked before Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20. Trump is the only U.S. president to be impeached twice. It was the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in modern times, more so than against Bill Clinton in 1998.

The unprecedented vote had many expressing fascination and satisfaction on Twitter.

Some who made the vote possible, including Rep. Mike Takano, D-California, shared their reasoning for choosing to charge the president ahead of the vote.

“I rise today in support of the impeachment of President Donald Trump. The gravity of the moment demands it, and the fate of our Republic depends on it,” Takano said during the hearing and posted on his Twitter page.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invoked Abraham Lincoln and the Bible, imploring lawmakers to uphold their oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign “and domestic.”

She said of Trump: “He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”

In a video, posted on Twitter by Alabama-based Right Side Broadcasting Network, Trump explained that no “true supporter of mine” could ever threaten or harass their fellow Americans. He said he does not “tolerate” and “unequivocally condemns” the violence that occurred last week, and he spoke on securing a safe transition during the inauguration “without incident.” He did not directly speak on the impeachment vote in the video message.

Unlike his first time, Trump faces this impeachment as a weakened leader, having lost his own reelection as well as the Senate Republican majority. Loyalists including House GOP leader Liz Cheney voted to impeach the president. Some of his most fervent allies, such as Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, shifted position, stating the president bears responsibility for the horrifying day at the Capitol.

Trump’s staunch supporters gave credence to his comments Wednesday evening, with many lambasting the vote and the handful of Republicans who voted against their Republican ally.

There will be more steps before the charge is solidified. The soonest Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would start an impeachment trial is next Tuesday, the day before Trump is already set to leave the White House, McConnell’s office said. The legislation is intended to prevent Trump from running again.

McConnell believes Trump committed impeachable offenses and considers the Democrats’ impeachment drive an opportunity to reduce the divisive, chaotic president’s hold on the GOP, a Republican strategist told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

McConnell told major donors over the weekend that he was through with Trump, said the strategist, who demanded anonymity to describe McConnell’s conversations.

In a note to colleagues Wednesday, McConnell said he had “not made a final decision on how I will vote.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.