FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Democrat Amy McGrath said Wednesday she would have voted to convict President Donald Trump on both impeachment counts, saying the evidence was overwhelming as she condemned the president’s acquittal in the Senate.
McGrath is among a bevy of Democrats vying to challenge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in this year’s election in Kentucky. McGrath said the GOP-led Senate lacked “the guts” to put a check on “out-of-control presidential power.”
McConnell’s campaign fired back, calling McGrath’s support for Trump’s removal a “shameful attempt to silence the voices” of Kentuckians who voted overwhelmingly to elect Trump in 2016.
McGrath, a former Marine combat aviator, said the conduct of the Senate Republican majority “was not an act of bravery, but simply a falling in line.”
“What happened in the Senate this week pushed aside fairness and the rule of law in favor of raw partisan politics,” she said. “The long-term interests of our country took a backseat, yet again.”
McConnell’s campaign said McGrath’s comments showed she’s out of step with Kentuckians.
“McGrath’s desire to remove President Trump from office is nothing more than a shameful attempt to silence the voices of the Kentuckians who overwhelmingly voted to elect him,” McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden said in a statement.
McConnell, one of Trump’s staunchest defenders, had signaled early on that he would coordinate with the White House in running the Senate’s impeachment trial.
Another Democratic Senate candidate, state Rep. Charles Booker, also said Trump should have been convicted by the Senate.
“All of the aspects of this trial that brought shame upon our country, including blocking witnesses and evidence, can all be traced back to one person: Mitch McConnell,” Booker said.
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