Trump Plans Farewell ‘Ceremony’ On Morning Of Biden’s Inauguration, McConnell Gives GOP Senators Permission To Find Donald Trump Guilty

Chris Sommerfeldt of the New York Daily News wrote:The loser-in-chief has to go out with a bang.

President Trump plans to vacate the White House just a few hours before Joe Biden’s inauguration next week and hopes to overshadow his successor by holding some type of farewell event, according to a source and reports Friday.

The outgoing president initially planned to depart the capital on Tuesday for his new permanent home in Florida, leaving Biden’s Wednesday inauguration free from any Trumpian disruption.

But a source familiar with the matter told the Daily News that Trump has since changed his mind and now plans to dip out of Washington on Wednesday morning — hours before the swearing-in ceremony for Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris slated for noon.

And before jetting to his private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Trump intends to stage a last hoorah in the form of a “departure ceremony” at the Joint Base Andrews airport in Maryland, according to CNN.

The ceremony — which will be thrown on American taxpayers’ dime — may reportedly include a color guard, red carpet, military band and a 21 gun salute.

A White House spokesman declined to comment.

Presidents have historically attended the inaugurations of their successors as a display of the importance of the peaceful transfer of power.

But Trump announced last Friday he won’t abide by the longstanding tradition.

His inaugural pullout announcement came two days after he incited a mob of far-right supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol in a violent attempt to disrupt the congressional certification of Biden’s victory. A Capitol Police officer and four other people died in the ensuing chaos, as Trump’s supporters rampaged through the halls of Congress in the name of the 45th president’s false claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him.

Trump was impeached on Wednesday for inciting the bloody riot, making him the only president in American history to face the humiliation of being impeached twice.

Contrary to Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and all living former presidents except for 96-year-old Jimmy Carter are expected to attend Biden’s Wednesday inauguration.

Trump’s last-ditch attempt to soak up some attention before Biden takes over is unprecedented in American history.

Other than the farewell event, Trump doesn’t have any publicly known plans for his final days in office.

He’s rumored to be considering issuing a slate of pardons for family members and even himself amid concern that he could face criminal charges once he loses his presidential immunity.

Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor For Dailymail.com wrote:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is telling his Republican colleagues President Trump's impeachment trial will be a 'vote of conscience' – an absence of pressure that leaves the president's fate up in the air.

McConnell has already communicated that he himself has not made up his mind on whether to convict Trump – following reports of his fury after a MAGA mob ransacked the Capitol, with one crowd of invaders stopped steps from McConnell's leadership office.

'His message to me was this would clearly be a vote of conscience,' Montana Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer said. 'He's always been respectful of members that way.'

House leaders also called the House impeachment vote this week a 'vote of conscience' – and 10 Republicans including Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney joined Democrats, with 232 voting to impeach Trump.

In the Senate, Democrats would need 17 Republicans to convict – putting individual senators to weigh their feelings as well as the views of some of their angry constituents.

'A conviction of Trump may mean he doesn't run again, but it doesn't mean he gives up without a fight,' Cramer told [i]Business Insider[i]. 'All my pro-Trump Republican friends want to take my head off for not blowing up the Constitution.'

But the public's view of Trump is not static, and polls have showed a dip in support since Trump supporters broke windows, stole equipment, clashed with police, and took part in a riot that ended up in the deaths of five people. Washington D.C. will not be in virtual lockdown for the inauguration, with 20,000 National Guard forces securing the city for the handover.

Seven Republican senators voted along with House members who objected to the certified electoral votes from Pennsylvania, and six did so for the votes from Arizona.

Cramer, along with most of his colleagues, voted to count the votes that made Joe Biden the winner.

Cramer, who like almost all Republicans backed Trump throughout his stormy tenure, said he didn't want to vote to convict but might vote to prohibit him from holding any office of public trust after the MAGA riot in the Capitol.

That question, which comes on a majority vote following conviction, has major political implications both for the nation and for the party, with several political rivals to Trump in 2024 holding seats in the chamber.

Two of them, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, were leaders of the effort to toss out votes, and stood by their position even after rioters trashed the Capitol.