Biden Says Trump’s Impeachment Trial ’Has to Happen’

By Staff, CNN

US President Joe Biden on Monday offered his most extensive comments since taking office on predecessor Donald Trump's impeachment trial, telling CNN, "I think it has to happen."

Biden made the comment during a brief one-on-one interview with CNN in the halls of the West Wing. He acknowledged the effect it could have on his legislative agenda and Cabinet nominees but said there would be "a worse effect if it didn't happen."

Biden said he believed the outcome would be different if Trump had six months left in his term, but said he doesn't think 17 Republican senators will vote to convict Trump.

"The Senate has changed since I was there, but it hasn't changed that much," Biden added.

His comments came the same night the House impeachment managers formally triggered the start of Trump's second impeachment trial after they walked across the Capitol and began reading on the Senate floor the charge against Trump, the first president in US history to be impeached twice.

The trial has loomed large over Biden's early days in office as he's sought to strike an uneasy balance between supporting it trial and pushing a message of unity. CNN previously reported that Biden and his team were initially cold on starting his administration -- which Biden pledged would "turn the page" on Trump -- with a focus on the former President.

But as more alarming details came into focus about the Capitol attack, early discussions among Biden advisers of taking an active role in slowing or trying to somehow manage impeachment were abandoned, aides said, as they've become well aware that trying to do so could divide Democrats.