Toomey on Trump vote: ‘His betrayal of the Constitution’ required conviction
Republican Sen. Patrick Toomey (Pa.) on Saturday evening released a statement explaining his reason for voting to convict former President Trump during the Senate impeachment trial, saying that Trump’s actions betrayed the Constitution.
The Senate earlier in the day voted 57-43 on a single charge of incitement of insurrection, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict the former president.
The statement, released after the trial concluded, explained Toomey’s decision to break from his party.
“His betrayal of the Constitution and his oath of office required conviction,” he wrote.
“Many elected Democrats did want to impeach President Trump from the moment he won the 2016 election.”
Toomey added, “The mainstream media was unrelentingly biased and hostile to the president. Both often overlooked violent riots when perpetrated in favor of causes they found sympathetic last summer.”
Despite this, Toomey stated he believes Trump’s conduct following his loss in the 2020 election was not acceptable.
On Saturday, Toomey was joined by six other GOP senators in his vote to convict including Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Richard Burr (N.C.) and Mitt Romney (Utah).
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
