Washington Post Editorial Board Spells Out Why The Senate ‘Must Convict’ Donald Trump

The editorial board of The Washington Post on Wednesday explained why the Senate “must convict” former President Donald Trump for inciting the deadly U.S. Capitol riot.

The newspaper’s editorial noted that both Republicans and Democrats wondered whether the ongoing trial “was worth the effort.” But Democrats’ presentation of how the violence unfurled — via videos of the pro-Trump mob overrunning and ransacking the Capitol — “has crystallized in graphic and compelling detail the horror” of Jan. 6 and Trump’s “deep responsibility for it,” the board wrote.

Most Senate Republicans “appear determined to acquit Mr. Trump, based on a flawed constitutional argument that former officials cannot be impeached,” the editorial noted.

“Senators will bring disgrace upon their chamber if they fail to hold the former president accountable,” the editorial warned. ”No reasonable listener this week could fail to find him culpable for the Capitol assault.”

The editorial suggested Republicans should be held to account if they fail to convict Trump.

“Democrats should challenge Republicans’ constitutional dodge by introducing a censure resolution spelling out Mr. Trump’s responsibility for inciting an insurrection,” the board wrote. “Each senator should be obliged to go on the record to condemn or condone a president’s unprecedented assault on U.S. democracy.”

Read the full editorial here.