Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told MSNBC on Friday Senate Republicans must vote to convict former President Donald Trump of inciting the riot that took place at the Capitol building on January 6 because if he runs again, Trump will just act in the same way.
Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was the lead impeachment manager in the first Senate trial in 2020, which the Senate did not vote to convict Trump of abusing his power when dealing with Ukraine's president.
"Why doesn’t it seem to be resonating with Senate Republicans?" host Andrea Mitchell asked.
"Well, look, it’s going to require courage on the part of these Senate Republicans. President Trump demonstrated, through his four years in office, the ability to punish anyone who strayed out of line. That certainly had an impact in the last trial. Only Mitt Romney demonstrated the courage to, I think, follow the Constitutional oath and follow the evidence," Schiff said.
"I would hope that with a backdrop now of the last trial and seeing just how sadly true those predictions were, that senators would realize they got a real duty here to protect the country that they cannot look away from. Because I don’t think any of us can question if he runs again in four years, they may hope he doesn’t, but if he does, who for a moment would believe that he wouldn’t try to cheat again, that he wouldn’t put us through this again, that he wouldn’t inflame people, incite people again?"
Trump's defense team for this Senate trial have made the case the riot was pre-planned by provocateurs who attended the protest on January 6. Lawyer Michael van der Veen said Trump's use of the word "fight" was not to be taken literally and highlighted the fact he told the protesters to be peaceful when they went to the Capitol building.