Andy McCarthy: House impeachment vote represents 'wasted opportunity' for consensus

close

Video

Andy McCarthy: Impeachment vote 'wasted opportunity' for consensus

FOX News contributor explains why it's 'pointless' to go forward with second Trump impeachment on 'Bill Hemmer Reports'

The House of Representatives vote to impeach President Trump in connection with last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol represents a "wasted opportunity" for the two parties to find common ground, former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy said Wednesday.

McCarthy, now a Fox News contributor, argued on "Bill Hemmer Reports" that Congress could have censured the president on a bipartisan basis rather than perpetuating "a kind of a pointless, deep partisan divide toward no good end."

ANDY MCCARTHY: I think it's a wasted opportunity for the possibility of a consensus bill. There was no reason to go forward with this because the president couldn't be removed ... There isn't going to be a trial while President Trump is still in office. There was a possibility here of basically crafting a censure of what the president did in an accurate way that I think would have gotten a lot of Republican votes and all Democratic votes and would have presented bipartisan unity in condemnation to the country.

Instead, what we've had is a kind of a pointless, deep partisan divide toward no good end because the president isn't actually going to be tried and when the trial does eventually happen, whenever that is, there'll be a high likelihood that the president will be acquitted, both because they've larded this article of impeachment with terms like 'insurrection' and 'incitement' that won't hold up on examination.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

I just think it's a real wasted opportunity, toward what end, I don't know, other than deepening the divide in the country, and I say that as someone who thinks the president's conduct was impeachable.

The House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump on a single count of "incitement of insurrection". Ten Republicans joined 222 Democrats in voting for impeachment.