Trump complains Democrats pushed his impeachment defense to Saturday. Republicans are actually responsible.

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

published 24 January 2020

President Trump is complaining about the rules his own party made.

On Friday morning, Trump launched yet another complaint about his impeachment trial in the Senate. This time around, he took issue with the fact that his lawyers will have to begin their arguments in his defense on Saturday, "which is called Death Valley in TV."

Looking beyond the getting-old nicknames for Trump's Democratic enemies, there's also a big factual error in his tweet. Democrats didn't overstay their time on the impeachment stage; they were allotted up to 24 hours for arguments on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday under Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) rules. And while Democrats suggested stretching that time further to wrap up their own arguments on Saturday and prevent extra-long days for everyone, 52 Republicans voted for and passed McConnell's abbreviated version anyway.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox