President Joe Biden Says He's Not Seeking 'Retribution' Over 'Important' Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump

President Joe Biden commented on his predecessor's impeachment trial this week, saying that he supports the process, but does not want to appear divisive by focusing on it. Biden gave a wide-ranging interview with PEOPLE this week, touching on all the issues plaguing his presidency. That includes former President Donald Trump's impeachment.

"I'm no longer in the Senate, obviously, and I don't know what is likely to happen," Biden said. "It's probably not likely to get 17 Republicans to change their view and convict on impeachment. But I think it's important that there be certain basic standards and people least are able to see what happened and make their own judgments." The United States Senate is expected to begin looking at the impeachment case against Trump as early as Tuesday, and to finish as early as Sunday.

As president, Biden has no official part in Trump's historic second impeachment, though obviously, his commentary on the topic carries quite a bit of weight. Trump made constant personal attacks on Biden during the 2020 presidential election, including insults to his late son who died serving in the U.S. military. Biden said that there was nothing personal about his support of the impeachment.

"I'm not looking for any retribution," Biden said. "My job is to try to heal the country and move us forward because I think we have so many opportunities as a country. I really do."

"I don't hold grudges," Biden added later in the interview. The new president has sought to make national, bipartisan unity a theme of his presidency, reaching across the aisle even when policy and process do not demand it. He has also avoided specific references to his predecessor, even as he seeks to undo Trump's policies in many areas.

"This may be hard to believe, [but] we don't spend a lot of time talking about or thinking about President Trump here — former President Trump, to be very clear," said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki bluntly in a press conference this week.

Trump himself has said little about his second impeachment trial in recent weeks, most likely because his preferred social media outlets still have him locked out. However, Trump's defense attorneys for the impeachment are still parroting his false conspiracy theories about election fraud, claiming that the race was somehow rigged in Biden's favor. Right now, pundits generally do not expect Trump to be convicted in his second impeachment.