The real reason 15 GOP Senators refused to show up to today’s Trump impeachment trial

| 4:55 pm EST February 11, 2021
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According to CNN’s Manu Raju, fifteen Republican Senators refused to show up to today’s Trump impeachment trial session. This certainly doesn’t make them look good. In fact, in the eyes of the average nonpartisan observer, it makes them look like they’re not fit for the job. But what are they really up to?

There are only two possible scenarios that come to mind. The first is that these fifteen Republicans truly are that committed to propping up Trump’s ghost, in a misguided attempt at pandering to Trump’s base when it comes to their own reelection.

The second scenario is that perhaps after yesterday’s damning impeachment presentation against Trump, these fifteen Senators have decided they don’t want to stick their necks out by voting to acquit Trump, so they’re not planning to show up for the vote at all. Accordingly, they would try to lay the groundwork for this by boycotting the trial to begin with.

So which scenario are we looking at? That’s not yet clear. We’ll get a big clue tomorrow when we see whether these same fifteen Republican Senators decide to show up for Trump’s impeachment defense.

To be clear, if these fifteen Senators did skip the vote, only two-thirds of the remaining 85 Senators would be needed to convict, which would be 57 votes. It’s worth noting that 57 votes would be 50 Democrats, plus the six Republicans who just voted that the trial is constitutional, plus Mitch McConnell. We’ll see.