Republicans and Democrats seem to agree Trump got off 'on a technicality'

Joaquin Castro.
(Image credit: congress.gov via Getty Images)

Republican senators let former President Donald Trump off "on a technicality," Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), a House impeachment manager, said Saturday after Trump escaped conviction for the second time in a little over a year.

Castro was arguing that many of the 43 GOP lawmakers who voted that Trump was not guilty of inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6 did so because they believed it wasn't constitutional to try an ex-president. He likely won't hear much of a rebuttal from within that contingent. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), for example, said Trump's actions in the lead up the Capitol riot were "inexcusable," but couldn't shake his stance that the trial shouldn't have taken place in the first place.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.