Marco Rubio said the trial is "stupid" but keep in mind that he did NOT say if or how he would vote.
... and that could be very important.
Senator Rubio could do one of three things: Show up and vote to convict, show up and vote to exonerate, or simply not show up at all. His vote to either convict or exonerate could be politically beneficial or damaging, but he might reason that simply not showing up would be the best of the three choices. In fact, that might be exactly what he had planned when he called the trial "stupid".
When a vote is decided by a simple majority the mathematics are pretty simple, but when it's decided by a 2/3 majority it gets a little more complicated.
Let's assume as an example that all 50 Democratic Party-aligned senators will show up and vote to convict Trump. Achievement of a 2/3 vote for conviction will then depend upon the Republican votes.
Let's also assume for this example that 49 Republican senators other than Rubio will show up and 16 of them will vote for conviction. The result will then depend upon Rubio.
If Rubio votes to exonerate then he'll establish himself as someone who believes inciting a massive, deadly, destructive, riot and invasion of our nation's capital, and an attempted insurrection, (and all of the other things that Jamie Raskin is reciting right now) are all okay.
And Trump will win. (66/100 < 2/3.)
If Rubio votes to convict then he'll establish himself as someone who has betrayed Trump, Trump's supporters, and the Republican Party.
And Trump will lose. (67/100 > 2/3.)
If Rubio chooses to not show up then he'll establish himself as someone who believes the trial is "stupid" and therefore chooses to boycott it. Since he has already made it clear that he believes the trial is stupid, the choice to boycott would hardly be considered unusual or unexpected.
But Trump will still lose. (66/99 = 2/3.)
Therefore, perhaps we should welcome Rubio's complaint that the trial is "stupid", and hope that he not only decides to boycott it but also encourages other Republican senators to do the same.
= new reply since forum marked as read
... he will show up and vote with Trump. He doesn't have a choice, anymore. I don't think moderates trust him anymore, so Marco has nowhere to go but down with the ship.
