Biden says 'I am not' watching Trump impeachment trial, focusing on COVID-19 relief

President Joe Biden will not watch the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, and instead said he is focused on those suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, he said Tuesday.

When asked whether he is watching the trial, Biden told reporters: “I am not.”

“Look, I told you before, I have a job,” Biden told reporters while meeting with chief executive officers of major U.S. corporations to discuss the economy in the Oval Office. “We’ve already lost over 450,000 people, and we’re going to lose a whole lot more if we don’t act and act decisively and quickly.”

“A lot of people, as I have said, a lot of children are going to bed hungry. A lot of families are food insecure. They are in trouble,” he continued. “That’s my job.”

All eyes are on the impeachment trial for Trump that began Tuesday. The House impeached Trump last month, charging him with inciting the deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Now Senators will vote to either acquit or convict the former president once the trial concludes.

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Trump is the first president to be impeached twice. He was impeached on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December 2019, but was acquitted in the Senate in January 2020.

Despite the trial, Biden over the past several weeks has focused on getting his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package through Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week that the legislation could pass through Congress by March 15, after Congress approved a key procedural step that paves the path for the COVID-19 relief legislation to be passed.

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White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has repeatedly said that it will be the Senate’s decision on whether they will impeach Trump and has not commented on how Biden feels about the trial.

Biden said Tuesday that “the Senate has their job and they are about to begin it.”

“I’m sure they are going to conduct themselves well, and that’s all I am going to have to say about impeachment,” he said.

Contributing: Bart Jansen

Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_