Mississippi U.S. Senator Roger Wicker appeared on ABC News’ ‘This Week’ on Sunday to discuss the COVID relief package, the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump and more.
Wicker made the following points:
COVID relief
“I think Republicans are — are willing to spend between $600 billion and $700 billion more. You know, on five occasions in 2020, Republicans in the senate, Democrats in the house came together with the administration and passed five covid relief packages. They were all done not only on a bipartisan basis, but with near unanimous support with the house and senate. Only this year after the president began his administration with a very hopeful speech about bipartisanship and unity, only this year have we somehow gotten to a point where this new president is saying, $1.9 billion, no IFS, ands or buts, and a group of ten Republicans talked to him the first chance he had to meet with congressional leaders, and really more the white house staff than the president absolutely rejected any of their proposals…”
“…This package is way too big based on the fact we don’t even know how much of the $900 billion from December has already even been obligated, much less spent, and this is going to cause inflation to be careful, and you have the budget office which came out a week ago, and this is a bipartisan, nonpartisan group. Not the organ of the Republican party, and basically cbo says that by the end of the year, the unemployment rate will be below 5%. Purchasing power of American families is going to be way up, and so the economic projections from this bipartisan group argue against something the size of a $1.9 trillion package that also anticipates a big tax hike.”
Impeachment
“Number one, is it constitutional — does the constitution anticipate a senate trial of a president who’s left office? And I think the overwhelming way of history and also a president indicates that this is not proper. Richard Nixon was about to be impeached by the house of representatives during his second term. He resigned from office, and impeachment evaporated. I think that’s what most people have viewed about impeachment over the course of the decades and the centuries. Constitutional lawyers can make an argument on either side. I went to law school and I practiced for awhile. That’s what lawyers do, but let me also make this other point, and I called on the President-Elect Joe Biden not — I called on him to ask that impeachment not occur, and I’ll tell you. If President-Elect Joe Biden had asked Democrats in the house to forego this route, they would have done so, and I can’t think of a more unifying act that he could have done. It would have rewarded him and folks like you would have said it was a wonderful, unifying gesture…”
“…Well, the question is should he be convicted in an impeachment trial, and the answer is no, based on the fact that the constitution does not anticipate the impeachment trial of a former president, you know, the constitution says the chief justice presides over the senate trial of a president. The fact that the chief justice will not preside over the trial speaks volumes…”
“…The charge, George, in the impeachment in the one article impeachment is that he singularly incited a riot to invade the capitol, and I do not think that will be proved, no…”
Watch the full interview below.
