Democrats Say They’re Not Worried About Trump Winning Again – They’re Worried About Him Losing

Topline

Impeachment managers attempted to drive home their case against former President Donald Trump on Thursday by painting a picture of the ex-president as a continued danger to the nation whose advocacy of violence long predated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Key Facts

Crucial Quote

“After he lost the election, the president was willing to do just about anything to prevent the peaceful transfer of power,” Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) said while summing up impeachment managers’ arguments.

Chief Critic

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) was unimpressed by impeachment managers’ third-day performance, telling reporters their arguments are “redundant, the same thing over and over again,” and asserting “the more you hear it, the less credibility there is in it.”

Surprising Fact

While the impeachment managers attempted to draw a clear link between the impact of Trump’s heated rhetoric on his supporters and the Jan. 6 attack, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, sent a text to supporters labeling the trial a “PLOT against Trump.”

Tangent

Impeachment managers tried to pre-empt arguments Trump lawyers are expected to make, with lead manager Jamie Raskin calling it a “classic case of incitement” and claiming “nobody in America would be protected by the First Amendment if they did all the things Donald Trump did.” They also focused on the storming of the Michigan Capitol in April as an apparent rebuttal to the Trump team’s references to summer 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

Big Number

17. That’s how many Senate Republicans are needed to vote with Democrats in order for Trump to be convicted and subsequently barred from running for office in the future – far less than the 6 who voted that the trial is constitutional.