NEW YORK – The Republican Party still belongs to Donald Trump. After he incited a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol last month, the GOP considered purging the norm-shattering former president.
But in the end, only seven of 50 Senate Republicans voted to convict Trump in his historic second impeachment trial on Saturday.
For Trump’s loyalists, the acquittal offers a vindication of sorts and a fresh connection to the former president's fiery base.
And for Trump’s GOP antagonists, it marks another alarming sign that the party is lurching further in a dangerous direction with little desire to reconnect with the moderates, women and college-educated voters Trump alienated.