, Columnist
Republicans’ Five Bad Excuses for Not Convicting Trump
The ex-president's defenders don’t have to be persuasive. They just have to sound plausible.
At the "Save America Rally" on Jan. 6.
Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg
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The Senate’s impeachment trial of Donald Trump is unprecedented: It’s the first time a president has been tried twice, and the first time an ex-president has been tried at all. The fact that it is taking place is a testament to how outrageous Trump’s conduct was in his last months in office. Even opponents of the impeachment trial, such as the editors of the Wall Street Journal, concede that it was impeachable behavior.
His supporters have nonetheless devised several arguments in his defense. They are not strong.