GOP Sen. Marco Rubio dismissed Trump's impeachment trial as 'stupid'

• Sen. Marco Rubio said that a Senate impeachment trial for Trump is "stupid."
• "The first chance I get to vote to end this trial I'll do it," the Florida Republican said.
• Rubio said a trial would be "very bad" for America and counterproductive to passing legislation.

GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida on Sunday said he would quickly reject the article of impeachment against former President Donald Trump and slammed a Senate trial as divisive.

During an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Rubio told host Chris Wallace that the impeachment effort is "very bad" for America.

"I think the trial is stupid," he said. "I think it's counterproductive. We already have a flaming fire in this country and it's like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire. The first chance I get to vote to end this trial I'll do it."

On January 13, Trump was impeached by the House for "incitement of insurrection" for his role in the January 6 Capitol riots that killed five people, including Brian Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer.

—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 24, 2021

Rubio said that then-President Gerald Ford's 1974 pardon of former President Richard Nixon for any crimes committed during his time in office was "in hindsight important" for "moving the country forward."

He added: "I think [Trump is] entitled to due process. "The House doesn't have much of a record of witnesses because they rammed it through very quickly … I think this is going to be very bad for the country."

Read More: Mitch McConnell is telling GOP senators their decision on a Trump impeachment trial conviction is a 'vote of conscience'

Wallace asked Rubio if Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was wrong for saying that "the [Capitol] mob was fed lies" and "provoked by the president and other powerful people."

"I think the president bears responsibility for some of what happened," Rubio answered. "It was most certainly a foreseeable consequence of everything that was going on. I think that's widely understood and maybe even better understood with the perspective of time. I think that's separate from the notion of, let's revisit this all and stir it up again."

Wallace then asked Rubio, who will face reelection in 2022, about the chatter that former White House advisor and presidential daughter Ivanka Trump will challenge him in a GOP Senate primary.

Rubio brushed off the question.

"I don't really get into the parlor games of Washington," he said. "I don't own the Senate seat ... it doesn't belong to me. If I want to be back in the US Senate, I have to earn that every six years."