President Joe Biden has said that the impeachment trial of Donald Trump "has to happen".
Per CNN, the Democrat POTUS made the comment during a brief one-on-one interview with a reporter in the halls of the West Wing.
Biden claimed that he believes Trump's trial needs to take place but added that he didn't think that 17 Republican senators would vote to convict Trump now that he was out of office.
Donald Trump spoke about his upcoming impeachment in the following address to the nation:Per CNN, Biden stated: "I think it has to happen..."
Biden then acknowledged the effect Trump's impeachment could have on his legislative agenda and Cabinet nominees but said there would be "a worse effect if it didn't happen."
He added: "The Senate has changed since I was there, but it hasn't changed that much."
CNN also reports that Biden commenting on Trump's second impeachment while speaking with reporters on the evening of Monday, January 25, stating:
"This nation also remains in the grip of a deadly virus and a reeling economy. I hope that the Senate leadership will find a way to deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation. [sic]"
In a ceremonial procession across the US Capitol, nine House impeachment managers carried the charge against Trump, who is the first President in the history of the United States to have been impeached twice.
Lead impeachment manager and a constitutional law scholar Rep. Jamie Raskin stood before the Senate and informed the 100-member-strong body that the managers were prepared to leave the prosecution of the former president.
Reading the article aloud, Raskin stated: "Donald John Trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors by inciting violence against the government of the United States."
In a statement made on Monday, Raskin claimed the managers were prepared to "present overwhelming evidence of the facts" that the speech Donald Trump delivered outside the White House on January 6 incited the Capitol riots - after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol building and interrupted the Congressional affirmation of Biden's victory in the 2020 Presidential election.
Meanwhile, Senate president pro tempore Patrick Leahy vowed in a statement made on Monday that he would "not waver from my constitutional and sworn obligations to administer the trial with fairness, in accordance with the constitution and the laws".
