Sen. Kennedy on impeachment trial: Dems want to equate Trump voters with ‘nutjobs’ who stormed Capitol

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John Kennedy: Trump impeachment being held to equate Trump voters with ‘nutjobs’ at the Capitol

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., says that extremism needs to be removed from both parties.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on Tuesday that he does not believe former President Donald Trump will be convicted in the Senate and that his trial is a "poorly-camouflaged" attempt by the Washington establishment to equate Trump voters with the "nutjobs" that broke into the Capitol.

Kennedy explained during an interview on "The Faulkner Focus" that while the Capitol rioters did not represent the Republican Party or a majority of their constituents, extremism exists on both sides of the political landscape.

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"My Democratic friends are bringing a sword to these proceedings when what we need is a candle," said Kennedy in regards to the impeachment trial. He added that Republicans and Democrats need "tents with doors" to kick out people that perpetuate conspiracy theories and divisive rhetoric.

Despite that, Kennedy acknowledged that individuals with positions in government, such as Trump, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and Rep. Maxine Waters, do not deserve to be impeached under First Amendment grounds, even if their language may be lacking in "substance" or presentation.

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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., made a similar argument recently, when he talked about the implications of impeaching Trump for his speech before the Capitol riots.

"If we're going to criminalize speech, and somehow impeach everybody who says, 'Go fight to hear your voices heard,' I mean really we ought to impeach Chuck Schumer then," Paul told "Fox News Sunday." "He went to the Supreme Court, stood in front of the Supreme Court, and said specifically, 'Hey Gorsuch, Hey Kavanaugh, you've unleashed a whirlwind. And you're going to pay the price.'"

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"This inflammatory wording, this violent rhetoric of Chuck Schumer was so bad that the chief justice, who rarely says anything publicly, immediately said this kind of language is dangerous as a mob tried to invade the Supreme Court," Paul added.

The trial kicked off Tuesday with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the chamber's president pro tempore, presiding in place of Chief Justice John Roberts.

Fox News' Evie Fordham contributed to this report.