Biden says he’s anxious to see what Republicans do in impeachment trial
President Joe Biden said Friday he is “anxious” to see how Senate Republicans will vote in the impeachment trial and whether they will “stand up.”
“I’m just anxious to see what my Republican friends do, if they stand up,” Biden told CNN in his first comments about the impeachment trial since the House impeachment managers rested their case on Thursday.
Biden said he does not plan to speak with any senators about the trial or how they will vote.
Biden answered two questions from CNN outside the West Wing after making an impromptu visit to the North Lawn to see hearts in the likeness of candy hearts set up by first lady Jill Biden in celebration of Valentine’s Day.
The President’s comments come as former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is underway in the Senate.
House impeachment managers have spent the last two days presenting a case to senators arguing that Trump incited the insurrectionists who stormed the US Capitol and failed to act to stop the riot as it unfolded. Trump’s lawyers are set to argue on Friday that the trial of a former president is unconstitutional and Trump’s speech on January 6 did not incite the rioters.
House impeachment managers this week aired disturbing and gripping footage showing rioters violently attacking officers and coming dangerously close to reaching lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence as they fled the House and Senate. Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died in the riot at the Capitol.
Despite the national spotlight being on Trump’s impeachment trial, the White House has stressed it is focused on carrying out Biden’s agenda, including passing the President’s sweeping coronavirus relief bill.
Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with a bipartisan group of senators at the White House on Thursday to talk about infrastructure.
“We all know we have to move on. Today it’s about jobs and infrastructure,” Biden said at the meeting in the Oval Office when asked about the impeachment trial.
The President, who has not explicitly weighed in on whether he believes Trump should be convicted, said Thursday: “I think the Senate has a very important job to complete and I think my guess is some minds may have been changed, but I don’t know.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
