WATCH: Chuck Schumer says impeachment is about stopping Trump from running again

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that the reason Democrats were working to impeach Trump was to prevent him from running for office again.

"The events on Jan 6, make no mistake about it, were not a spontaneous demonstration," Schumer said. "President Trump invented the lie that motivated these criminals... His demagoguery whipped them into a frenzy."

"We need to set a precedent that the severest offence ever committed by a President will be met by the severest remedy provided by the constitution, impeach and conviction by this chamber," Schumer continued.

"He will continue spreading lies about the election and stoking the grievances of his most radical supporters, using the prospect of a future presidential run to poison the public arena at a time when we must get so much done," he speculated.

"After what he has done, the consequences of which we were all witness to, Donald Trump should not be eligible to run for office ever again," Schumer declared. "If the President is convicted, there will be a vote on barring him from running again."

Schumer's comments come as the Senate reconvenes for the first time since President Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives. He is the first President to have been impeached twice by the House, although with just hours left to his term, it is unclear whether the Senate will go through with impeaching him.