New Delhi: Former US President Trump was acquitted on Saturday after a five day trial on the charges of inciting an insurrection at the US Capitol. This comes after he was cleared in last year’s impeachment trial over the Ukraine scandal.
Trump was cleared after 57-43 votes even though majority votes were agaisnt him, as two-third is required in the Senate. But there were seven Republicans who joined with Democrats to seek Trump's conviction. The trial concluded as expected with a majority of Republicans declaring him not guilty, it is said to be a power grip that Trump continues to exert on his party. Some of the harshest criticism he recieved were from the seven Republicans who voted to agaisnt him. Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell who voted to acquit him said, "There's no question -- none -- that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day," McConnell said in a speech following the vote that led to Trump's acquittal accoridng to an AFP report.
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During the trial, Democratic prosecutors argued that Trump broke his oath when he inticed the mob to storm the Capitol in an attempt to cling to power. But, the Democrats backtracked on the chance to call witnesses in the trial on Saturday, which might have led to many more days of proceedings as many officials would have been testifying against him.
According to Agence France Presse, Trump hinted at a political future and was quoted saying "our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun."
On January 13th 2021, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives a week after the attack on the U.S. Capitol which shook the country and stunned the world.