Sen. Manchin calls for U.S. Senate to “censure” President Trump.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., talks on his phone as he walks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, before the continuation of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON — On Monday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) called for a censure resolution of President Donald Trump, which “would allow a bipartisan statement condemning his unacceptable behavior in the strongest terms.”

Manchin expressed that an impeachment conviction was unlikely in the U.S. Senate, but a vote to censure the President would be a sufficient alternative.

“What the President did was wrong. I see no path to the 67 votes [requried to convict and remove] President Trump,” Sen. Manchin continued, “However, I do believe a bipartisan majority of this body would vote to censure President Trump. Censure would allow this body to unite across party lines.”

While a censure resolution serves as a legislative rebuke to the sitting president and has no actual effect, Manchin still joins with the Democratic Party in condemning President Trump’s conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.