Senator and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is displeased with the Senate impeachment trial schedule, urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to “hold the trial at a time when the American people can observe it and not at two o’clock in the morning” — a plea made shortly after he announced he would miss an upcoming campaign event in Iowa.
Sanders said in a statement posted to social media on Tuesday that he is fulfilling his constitutional duty by sitting in on the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump. However, he has two complaints: He wants McConnell to allow for witnesses — both for and against the president — and he wants the schedule altered.
“It seems somewhat absurd that the schedule that Mitch McConnell has outlined will kind of allow this trial to go on at one o’clock or two o’clock in the morning when nobody is observing it,” Sanders said.
While he did not mention it in the video, the impeachment trial is affecting his campaigning in Iowa. He previously admitted he planned to use a private jet to go back and forth between campaign events but was forced to cancel an upcoming event at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls due to the impeachment trial schedule. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) will hold events in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and Ames on Friday and Saturday, he confirmed.
Nonetheless, the socialist senator suggested his complaint was rooted in concerns for the American people.
“You know, the American people should have the opportunity to participate and observe this enormously important moment in American history,” Sanders said.
“So I say to Mitch McConnell today, and all due respect, please allow for witnesses in this trial, hold the trial at a time when the American people can observe it and not at two o’clock in the morning,” he added:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who is facing similar issues, balancing campaigning and fulfilling her role as a Senator, tweeted a pointed complaint on Tuesday, accusing McConnell of pushing through a “sham trial.”
“Mitch McConnell knows the facts are damning for Donald Trump. To protect him, he’s pushing through a sham trial with no witnesses and no White House documents,” she claimed.
“He’s orchestrating a cover up, and trampling over the Constitution as he does it,” she added:
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), another presidential hopeful who faces the challenge of balancing her presidential campaign and the Senate trial, proclaimed on Tuesday that she can “do two things at once”:
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) argued on Tuesday that any rejection of the Senate for additional witnesses and documents would “prove the Senate guilty of working with the president to obstruct the truth from coming out.”
McConnell’s resolution “allows for a vote on whether both parties can introduce new evidence and witnesses,” as Breitbart News reported.
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