Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Your World” that he opposed an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate as a remedy for former President Donald Trump because he was a private citizen and could be prosecuted by the criminal justice system.
Cavuto asked, “Do you think he provoked that crowd when he said, ‘These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots.’ Do you think he should be punished for those remarks?”
Rubio said, “Yeah, so if someone makes those remarks, he’s a private citizen. So he’s now — the reason why we have impeachment is the following; you can’t charge a president. So you have to remove them from office and then subject to criminal penalty. That’s why Ford Pardoned Nixon because after he resigned, he could have still been prosecuted. If he did something that rises to that level and that these folks so strongly believe, then the criminal justice system and the civil system is in place to pursue.”
Cavuto asked if Trump’s language was “incendiary enough.”
Rubio said, “I think there’s no doubt that the president bears some responsibility for what happened.”
He added, “If he’s president of the United States, you can’t charge him criminally. You have to impeach him and remove them and then charge him criminally. In this case, he’s a private citizen. If he committed wrongdoing while he was president, the criminal justice system can deal with that. This is not the right use of Congress’ time. It’s vindictive. It’s about revenge.”
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