President Biden on Thursday said he believed “some minds” may have been changed on whether to convict former President Trump after House impeachment managers presented harrowing video of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
“I, like other Americans, watched the news. I didn’t watch any of the hearing live because I was going straight through last night until a little after nine,” Biden told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the developments of Trump’s impeachment trial.
“I think the Senate has a very important job to complete, and my guess is some minds may have been changed. But I don’t know,” he added.
Asked later if Biden believes that conviction is a possibility, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president was not offering a “projection or a prediction” but giving a “very human and emotional response” to what occurred at the Capitol on Jan. 6. She said the video reminded Biden of how “shocked and saddened” he was on that day to see what transpired.
The president has largely shied away from commenting on Trump’s impeachment. He has refused to weigh in on the question of whether the Senate should vote to convict his predecessor.
House impeachment managers on Wednesday presented previously unreleased footage of the Capitol siege that showed how close pro-Trump rioters came to lawmakers and former Vice President Mike Pence. Separate videos showed Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and then-Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) being led away from the rioters. Another showed Pence being rushed with his family to a secure location in the Capitol.
A two-thirds majority of the Senate, which is split 50-50, must vote to convict Trump of the charge that he incited the Capitol riot. Only six GOP senators voted with Democrats to uphold the constitutionality of the trial earlier this week. At least 17 GOP senators would need to vote with Democrats in order to convict the former president, largely securing his acquittal at the trial’s end.
Biden has spent much of this week focused on other matters, principally on building support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal, and told reporters that he did not plan to watch Trump’s second impeachment trial.
The White House has refused to take a position on Trump’s impeachment, despite numerous media questions. Psaki has said Biden’s priorities are focused on addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, and that he defers to Congress as to how to handle the trial.
“We put out a statement following the conclusion of the House vote just a couple of weeks ago, and he made clear in that statement that he felt the process should proceed as history — you know, and many laws predetermine. And he is going to wait for the Senate to determine the outcome of this,” Psaki told reporters Wednesday in response to a question about whether the trial was constitutional.
“His view is that his role is — should be currently focused on addressing the needs of the American people, putting people back to work, addressing the pandemic,” she said.