Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) vocally opposed outgoing President Donald Trump's first impeachment last year. McConnell has been a key enabler of Trump's agenda—such as his 2017 tax bill and the appointment of hundreds of federal judges, including three Supreme Court Justices.
But after Trump's blatant lies that the 2020 election was "stolen" by Democrats culminated in a mob of pro-Trump extremists attacking the United States Capitol, even McConnell is saying the President is to blame.
Earlier this month, the Demcratic-led House of Representatives impeached Trump for a historic second time, with 10 House Republicans voting in favor, making this presidential impeachment the most bipartisan in American history.
Now, the Senate has reconvened on the last full day of Trump's presidency, and one of its first items of business will be Trump's impeachment trial.
In a surprising Senate floor speech, McConnell indicated a markedly different opinion on Trump's second impeachment than the first impeachment a year earlier.
Watch below.
McConnell placed the blame of the Capitol riots—which resulted in the deaths of at least five people—on the President and his lies, saying:
"The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like."
While McConnell resisted calls to convene the Senate for a trial earlier than the 19th, earlier reporting indicated that McConnell was in favor of impeachment proceedings and potentially even a conviction.
People were surprised to see McConnell throw Trump under the bus.
Others said his words alone were insufficient.
The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump could begin as soon as this week.
