Mitch McConnell finally opened his mouth about impeachment – and it’s not good news for Donald Trump

Last night Palmer Report pointed out that Senate Majority Leader and Republican fundraising purse string holder Mitch McConnell had largely been quiet about Donald Trump’s impeachment over the past week. This wasn’t good for Trump, because McConnell could have spent the past week trying to prop Trump up and trying to prevent the public from supporting impeachment. Now McConnell has finally spoken up, and let’s just say that it’s still not good for Trump.

In one of the only things Mitch McConnell had said about impeachment up to this point, last week he told NPR that if the House does approve articles of impeachment, the Senate will indeed have to hold an impeachment trial. This didn’t get a lot of attention at the time, but it took some wind out of the sails of Trump loyalists who were hoping McConnell would stick his neck out by illegally refusing to hold a trial. Now McConnell is repeating and amplifying that message.

Speaking CNBC today, Mitch McConnell once again said that “I would have no choice but to take it up” when speaking about a Trump impeachment trial. He did add that how long the Senate trial would last is a “different matter.” Trump’s remaining loyalists are interpreting that last part as a glimmer of hope – but it really isn’t one.

Pro-impeachment poll numbers are rising by the day, and Mitch McConnell can see that. By the time Donald Trump’s impeachment makes its way over to the Senate, there will be even more pro-impeachment fervor among mainstream Americans. McConnell and his Republican Senators will then have to selfishly decide whether saving Trump or ousting Trump gives them their own best shot at reelection. McConnell is simply keeping the door open for the trial to go either way, depending on how ugly things get for Trump. The real news here is that McConnell is still very much rejecting the idea of magically not holding Trump’s Senate impeachment trial.