© 2026 NPR Illinois
For your right to be curious.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
NPR Illinois is seeking a full-time multimedia journalist to co-host/produce/edit/report for a new daily, regional radio news hour with Sean Crawford. Click to apply.

What Mitch McConnell's Vote To Acquit Trump Says About The Future Of The GOP

Former President Donald Trump speaks alongside Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump speaks alongside Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Seven Republican senators joined Democrats in voting to convict former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, making it the most bipartisan vote of its kind in U.S. history. But it was not enough to convict Trump, who was acquitted Saturday.

Speaking after the vote, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking” the Jan. 6 insurrection. But he voted not to convict because “it would strain our own constitutional boundaries,” he said.

Here & Now‘s Tonya Mosley speaks with Jane Mayer, a staff writer at The New Yorker.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.