On Saturday, the Senate voted to acquit former President Trump of the lone impeachment article against him. House Democrats and a handful of Republicans accused the former president of inciting the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. In a speech on the Senate floor on Saturday, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) held President Trump responsible for inciting the Capitol riot but said the Senate lacked the constitutional authority to impeach the former president over it.
"There is no question – none – that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day," McConnell argued, reiterating an earlier statement. "No question about it."
"The people who stormed this building believed that they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president," McConnell continued. "And having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole, which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth."
While McConnell blamed the former president for the Capitol riot, he said Donald Trump is "constitutionally not eligible for conviction." McConnell then argued the former president could still be held liable as a private citizen.
"President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office, as an ordinary citizen. Unless the statute of limitations is run, he's still liable for everything he did while he was in office," said McConnell. "He didn't get away with anything, yet."
According to McConnell, Trump was the only person who could have stopped the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and accused the former president of being derelict in his duty.