USA TODAY International Edition
Trump thanks GOP for acquittal
Political movement ‘ has only just begun,’ he says
WASHINGTON – Donald Trump thanked Senate Republicans – most of them – for his impeachment acquittal on Saturday and proclaimed that the political movement he began with his 2016 election has “only just begun.”
“We have so much work ahead of us, and soon we will emerge with a vision for a bright, radiant, and limitless American future,” Trump said in a written statement shortly after the Senate impeachment verdict.
While thanking GOP allies, Trump – who is considering another presidential run – attacked Democrats by saying “it is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to denigrate the rule of law.”
Trump did not mention the seven Republicans who voted to convict him on a charge of inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U. S. Capitol, which aimed to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden. Five people died in the riot.
Democrats said Trump has never acknowledged responsibility for the violence and accused most Republicans of letting him get away with it.
Trump said in a statement after the vote “I have much to share with you” in the months ahead.
“The most despicable act any president has ever committed, and the majority of Republicans cannot summon the courage or the morality to condemn it,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D- N. Y.
In his statement, Trump thanked his legal team and House and Senate Republicans who opposed impeachment. Decrying it as “the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country,” Trump said that “no president has ever gone through anything like it.”
Trump also said his political movement “has only just begun,” and “in the months ahead I have much to share with you.”
Republicans who voted to convict Trump – a verdict that could have barred him from holding public office again – condemned his conduct in stirring up supporters to fight the election result.
“By what he did and by what he did not do, President Trump violated his oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” said Sen. Richard Burr, R- N. C.