Senate trial of Trump will 'further divide this nation,' N.Y. GOP lawmaker warns 

New York Republican Rep. Tom Reed, co-chair of the bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus, warned that holding an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate against former President Trump will "further divide" the American public.

"I came out in support of censure of President Trump in regards to the activity that occurred on the mall that day in the speech that I watched, and I witnessed myself, and so I recognize the accountability," Reed said during a virtual event organized by the Economic Club of Washington on Wednesday.

"Censure is not a slap on the wrist," he added. "Censure is historic. We've only censured one president officially from Congress to the president. So it's not like it's a non-existent penalty. It's a historic penalty. And so I got a lot of heat from my party in regards to the position on that."

The Democratic-led House voted in favor of impeaching Trump on Jan. 13. Trump left office on Jan. 20. The impeachment article wasn't formally sent to the U.S. Senate until Monday, Jan. 25, after Trump left office. Reed, who voted against impeachment, said that carrying out an impeachment trial in the Senate will further divide America.

"Impeachment is about overturning the will of an election, and so the votes that were cast in 2016, that was an election that put President Trump in place, and if you're going to overturn that election, you still have to take all the consideration of impeachment into effect," he said.

"This impeachment in the Senate is going to further divide this nation, and it is going to play into this gasoline, that the 74 million folks of America that voted for President Trump that do not believe, many of them, do not believe this election was legitimate," Reed said. "I had no problem recognizing, at this point in time, that President Biden is our president. But there are millions of Americans, and not just because President Trump says it, but they do believe it. I can tell you, I've heard from it."

Reed continued, "We have to heal this nation and we have to listen to that frustration and anger of those 74 million people and make sure that their concerns about the election, others are heard."

According to ABC News, Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins are working on a censure resolution against Trump in the Senate that might "include the elements of the 14th Amendment that lead to disqualification from future office."

A censure resolution would require 60 votes to pass in the Senate.