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Donald Trump’s impeachment “has got to happen,” Joe Biden told CNN on Monday.
While acknowledging the effect it could have on his agenda, the president said there would be “a worse effect if it didn’t happen.”
Biden said he didn’t think enough Republican senators would vote for impeachment to convict, though he also said the outcome could have been different if Trump had six months remaining in his term.
“The Senate has changed since I was there, but it hasn’t changed that much,” Biden said.
The U.S. House of Representatives delivered its article of impeachment against Trump in the Senate on Monday, setting the stage for Trump’s second impeachment trial and the first Senate trial of a former U.S. president.
Trump has been accused of inciting the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, when an assault by a violent pro-Trump mob killed five people.
Monday’s delivery and the formal reading of the charge mark the opening of the trial, although arguments are scheduled to begin the week of February 8.
Republicans and Democrats last week agreed to a two-week delay for the start of proceedings to allow both sides to prepare arguments and give senators fifteen days to negotiate vital legislation to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus and consider cabinet appointments. of Biden.
Following Trump’s impeachment in the House on January 13, Biden had said He expected senators to “handle their constitutional impeachment responsibilities while also working on other pressing issues of this nation.”
At least 17 Republican senators will have to vote with all Democrats to convict Trump.
Although Senate Republicans have been slower to join Trump’s defense than during his first impeachment trial, and a handful of Republicans have shown their willingness to convict the former president, conviction remains an uphill battle.
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