The Senate vote Tuesday on moving forward on the impeachment trial of former President Trump confirms that he will be exonerated.

While Senate Democrats and five Republicans (Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey) agreed to hold the trial, the vote would fall short of 67% needed for conviction. Majority leader Chuck Schumer and House handlers have to flip 12 votes after the trial to succeed.

Kentucky GOP Senator Rand Paul gave a passionate plea on the Senate floor calling it “a kangaroo court” as he pointed to the unconstitutional proceeding of impeaching a private citizen.

“Democrats are about to drag our great country down into the gutter of rancor and vitriol the likes of which has never been seen in our nation’s history… It’s almost as if they have no ability to exist except in opposition to Donald Trump,” Paul said.

As I have cited numerous times, Paul called the Democrats cries for unity — including in President Biden’s acceptance speech last week — hollow if they continue down this path.

Paul cited Trump’s own words in the Jan. 6th speech and asked where is the incitement for violence in the sentence?

“I know everyone here will soon march to The Capitol to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

The Kentucky Senator then cited Democratic pols inciting followers “to fight” such as Vice President Kamala Harris (bailing out Anitfa and BLM rioters this summer), Rep. Maxine Waters (telling partisans to “get in the faces of Republican lawmakers on the streets, restaurants and other places you see them”) and lastly the shooting of Republican lawmakers that nearly killed Rep. Steve Scalise at a softball practice, when the shooter shouted about a health care vote incited by Sen Bernie Sanders speech in the Senate.

As Paul continued, no Republicans have asked for any of these pols to be impeached or censored over their words or actions.

After the Senate vote Paul tweeted:

“The Senate just voted on my constitutional point of order. 45 Senators agreed that this sham of a “trial” is unconstitutional. That is more than will be needed to acquit and to eventually end this partisan impeachment process. This “trial” is dead on arrival in the Senate.”