Democrats call for Trump's removal
Top Democrats in the US Congress on Thursday called for the immediate removal of President Donald Trump from office for inciting protesters who stormed the US Capitol building Wednesday.
"This president should not hold office one day longer," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who will become the majority leader with the seating of two new Democratic senators elected in Georgia on Tuesday.
"The quickest and most effective way — it can be done today — to remove this president from office would be for the vice-president to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment. If the vice-president and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president."
Hours later, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi echoed Schumer's remarks, saying Trump "incited an armed insurrection against America" and urged Pence to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump. Congress "may" be prepared to move forward with impeachment otherwise, she said.
Trump is "a very dangerous person who should not continue in office", Pelosi added, saying she wants to hear from Pence on Thursday about his decision. "This is urgent, an emergency of the highest magnitude."
In a video posted Thursday evening on Twitter, the social media platform where Trump had been suspended for 12 hours starting Wednesday, the president addressed the violence at the Capitol, the election, the transition and the pandemic in a 2 minute, 41-second video to his 88.7 million followers.
"Like all Americans I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem," Trump said. "America is and must always be a nation of law and order. The demonstrators who infiltrated the capital have defiled the seat of American democracy. To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country."
On the Nov 3 election, Trump said: "My campaign vigorously pursued every legal avenue to contest the election results. My only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote. … I continue to strongly believe that we must reform our election laws to verify the identity and eligibility of all voters to ensure faith and confidence in all future elections.
"A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20. My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power," Trump said. "This moment calls for healing and reconciliation."
Trump said "2020 has been a challenging time for people. A menacing pandemic has upended the lives of our citizens, isolated millions in their homes, damaged our economy and claimed countless lives."
He concluded by saying that "serving as your president has been the honor of my lifetime".
With less than two weeks to go before his presidency ends on Jan 20, the likelihood of invoking the disability clause of the amendment or again impeaching Trump was remote.
President-elect Joe Biden, speaking Thursday in Delaware, called the storming of the Capitol "an assault on the most sacred of American undertakings".
"We have a president who has made his contempt for the rule of law clear," Biden said.
One Republican, a frequent critic of Trump, joined the call for Trump's removal.
"All indications are that the president has become unmoored not just from his duty nor even his oath but from reality itself," said Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. "
