While several Republican senators are in agreement that former President Trump's legal team didn't hit their opening arguments out of the park on the first day of his second impeachment trial on Tuesday, those same Republicans don't appear to be convinced enough to have changed their minds. Forty-four Republicans still voted that the trial was unconstitutional, suggesting that the Democrats will not have the votes to convict Trump, now a private citizen.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was so sure of that outcome that he says he personally told Trump that this trial is still going nowhere.
"I reinforced to the president, the case is over," Graham said he told Trump, per the Hill pool. "It’s just a matter of getting the final verdict now."
Sen. Graham added that he believes Trump's lawyers, Bruce Castor and David Schoen, can and will do better as the trial proceeds.
He's not the only one hoping they see a real improvement. As you can see, several Senate Republicans were unimpressed with the defense's meandering arguments.
GOP castigates Trump team
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) February 10, 2021
Cassidy: “Terrible job”
Collins: “I’m puzzled”
Cornyn: “Not one of the finest I’ve seen”
Murkowski “really stunned”
Cruz: “I don't think the lawyers did the most effective job”
?@marianne_levine? ?@AndrewDesiderio? https://t.co/ZH6CcKnguM
Even Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), who called this "the stupidest week in the Senate," admitted the Democratic impeachment managers gave the superior presentation. But that won't change his vote because Trump's team, he says, is on the side of the Constitution.
At the end of the day, the Democrats' argument, no matter how eloquent, is "not going to succeed," Sen. Ted Cruz concurred on Fox News.