House impeachment manager Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) says some Republicans told her Democrats “made the case” but still chose to acquit former President Donald Trump on the charge of inciting an insurrection.
“I had senators, even after we presented, who stopped me in the hallway, Republicans, who said that we had made the case, yet they were going to vote to acquit the president,” Plaskett said during an appearance on “Cuomo Prime Time” on Monday night.
She explained she suggested to Republicans “why don’t you vote to convict in the first instance and then not vote to disqualify him, which only requires a majority?”
They replied, according to Plaskett, “Well, I don’t think you’ll get to 17 so I’ll never get to that second disqualification vote and I don’t want to stand out on a limb by myself.”
Watch her comments below:
The Capitol siege was in affect a "second kind of Civil War," says Del Stacey Plaskett, an impeachment manager in the 2nd trial of former Pres. Trump
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) February 16, 2021
"We were on the frontlines to save our…Republic," she said. "…We have shown who Donald Trump is…the enemy that was among us" pic.twitter.com/eZ0Ig1q8v4
Plaskett also suggested during the interview she does not believe the Republicans who voted to acquit “are what is the majority of Americans.”
She continued, “Remember that we had 57 senators who voted to convict the president, and those 57 senators represent even more than 57% of the population of this country. Those states that they represent are much broader than a 57% coalition.”
Plaskett tries to “take comfort” in the 10 Republicans in the House and seven in the Senate who voted to hold Trump accountable, as she put it.
“Those are the individuals that I’ll reach out to and try to bring along,” Plaskett said.
She called the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 a “second kind of Civil War.”
“It was necessary for us to have a reckoning and for those individuals who made war against our democracy would be brought to justice, and that they needed to be held account for. That’s what I saw as my duty and my service to my country,” Plaskett said.
She went on, “Even though we lost that case that we have shown who Donald Trump is. We’ve shown the enemy that was among us, that was attempting to lead us, that was using us for his own greed and power, and that he will not have the same power that he had should he ever attempt to run again.”
