Thursday on Hugh Hewitt’s nationally syndicated radio show, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) questioned the merits and constitutionality of the impeachment process underway in the U.S. Senate.
Scott indicated the Capitol Hill riots on January 6 were unacceptable but warned impeachment under these circumstances would set a “horrible precedent.”
He called it political theater more appropriate for the Kennedy Center than the U.S. Capitol.
“Well, I think what everybody, I’ll tell you my case,” he said. “The videos were horrible. The people that did this need to be prosecuted. Nobody should be coming in the Capitol, and nobody should be doing anything that hurts another human being or tears up property. It shouldn’t happen. So my hope is that everybody will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But here’s where I look at this. The Democrats are just obsessed with Trump. I mean, Trump is not in office. I mean, he is not the president.”
“And so why don’t the Democrats stop their obsession and focus on getting something done instead of making us sit through this unconstitutional, backward-looking, waste of time impeachment?” Scott continued. “I mean, the Democrats don’t care about getting anything done for a family. This is just pure political theater. It ought to be done at the Kennedy Center. It shouldn’t be done at the Capitol. So I hope, I’ll be glad when this ends. I hope everybody in this country is thinking, why are the Democrats focused on the past rather than the future. This is horrible.”
“Hugh, this is a horrible precedent,” he added. “So if you don’t like the next president, so they’re going to find something to impeach him on. And then whoever is running, whoever is in the Senate, then has to sit through an impeach where, think about it, there was no due process. I mean, they didn’t do any interviews. They didn’t do any depositions. They did nothing. They just said, oh, we’ve got to impeach this guy. And then they sat on it. They had to rush through it. Then they sat on it. So it does nothing for an American family, and I’m disappointed with what the Democrats have done.”
Scott asked if the proceedings were constitutional, why is Chief Justice John Roberts not presiding over the impeachment trial?
“You know, Hugh, nobody’s told me that they’ve changed their mind. I mean, look, I think we all hated the fact, I mean, this disgusted, it’s just disgusting that people would come into the Capitol, and some of the things these people said,” Scott added. “It’s just absolutely disgusting. I’m disappointed that President Trump didn’t say something quicker to make sure people left the Capitol. With that, I’m very disappointed that he didn’t do that. But this is just a charade because the Democrats are obsessed with a prior president. This is horrible. This is horrible precedent. And by the way, if it’s constitutional, where’s the Chief Justice? We have a senator running the thing.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor