GOP Senators Who Voted To Convict Trump Condemned By Their Home States

The seven GOP senators who voted to convict former President Donald Trump of inciting the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 are now being condemned in their home states.

Republican Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Mitt Romney of Utah joined all 50 Democrats in voting against Trump.

Party leaders and local Republican officials hoping to curry favor with the pro-Trump voters have publicly condemned the lawmakers for breaking ranks. Cassidy was censured by his state’s party hours after he cast his vote.

Sasse also received backlash after the vote. Bruce L. Castor Jr., one of Trump’s defense attorneys, mentioned the Nebraska senator while on the Senate floor and accused him of being a “pretty smart jurist.”

“Nebraska, you’re going to hear, is quite a judicial thinking place, and just maybe Sen. Sasse is on to something, Castor said during an address that was at times confounding. “There seem to be some pretty smart jurists in Nebraska, and I can’t believe the United States senator doesn’t know that.”

Sasse, who has made prior comments critical of Trump, is now expected to be censured by GOP officials in the Nebraska counties of Hitchcock, Scotts Bluff, Sarpy and Lincoln.

Burr, a senior Republican who led the Senate’s Russia investigation, drew fire from North Carolina conservatives. Earlier in the week, the lawmaker voted that the impeachment trial was unconstitutional. However, Burr said he would put that aside and proceed with the impeachment trail after the Senate voted Tuesday that it was constitutional.

"As I said on January 6th, the President bears responsibility for these tragic events. The evidence is compelling that President Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection against a coequal branch of government and that the charge rises to the level of high Crimes and Misdemeanors. Therefore, I have voted to convict," Burr said in a statement.

Michael Whatley, North Carolina’s Republican Party chairman, slammed Burr for voting to convict Trump, and called his decision “shocking and disappointing.”

“North Carolina Republicans sent Senator Burr to the United States Senate to uphold the Constitution and his vote today to convict in a trial that he declared unconstitutional is shocking and disappointing,” Whatley said.

Of the seven Republican lawmakers who voted against Trump, only one, Senator Murkowski of Alaska, will face re-election.