that trial argument

The Republican argument that you can't hold a Congressional impeachment trial for someone not still in office has a certain logic to it.  Unfortunately, that logic also has a clear implication in this case.

Trump was impeached with plenty of time to hold a trial during his term of office, so Republicans abandoned their constitutional duty by refusing to hold the trial immediately.

That's what it means.  They knew it was their constitutional duty to hold a trial for an impeached president.  They declined, knowing that they would skirt responsibility afterwards by claiming they can't hold the trial at a later date either.

It's infuriating.  Republicans have claimed since Reagan that government is incompetent and unreliable.  Of course it is, if that's what you make it.