As the United States reeled from the violent chaos of Trump supporters’ violent storming of the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) announced that she was writing up new articles of impeachment against the president. The House has, of course, already impeached Trump once before, and it’s unclear what reception that Omar’s new articles of impeachment against Trump might get in the House, but what is clear is that Donald Trump’s behavior is an existential threat to American democracy. In a video message addressing supporters, Trump said, in part: “I know how you feel,” as if he was condoning the demonstrators’ actions!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021
On Twitter, Rep. Omar shared the following message:
‘I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment. Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate. We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.’
I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment.
Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate.
We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 6, 2021
More than a few Democratic House members, including Reps. David Cicilline (R.I.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), and Kai Kahele (Hi.) expressed public support for the idea of impeaching Trump. Pressley insisted that Trump “should immediately be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate as soon as Congress reconvenes,” while Cicilline expressed a similar sentiment, adding that Trump “caused” the chaos at the Capitol building. Trump and top allies have repeatedly pushed deranged lies that the recent presidential election was “rigged” against him, and his goons have been acting in accordance with his conspiracies.
This is outrageous, and the president caused it. We should impeach and convict him tomorrow.
— David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) January 6, 2021
Im in.
— Kai Kahele (@kaikahele) January 6, 2021
Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) referenced the 25th Amendment in their own public comments about the violence. That amendment allows for a “written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” from the vice president and a majority of Cabinet members, who can thereby remove the president from power, replacing them with the vice president — in this case, Pence — as commander-in-chief. Lieu insisted that Pence “[needs] to start the 25th Amendment,” and Wexton added as follows:
‘The President has been encouraging these domestic terrorists since before the election. He could have stopped them at any moment, but instead he whipped them into a frenzy and sicced them on the Capitol. The Cabinet must remove him today or the House must impeach.’
A manufacturing organization — the National Organization of Manufacturers — publicly supported the 25th Amendment idea on Wednesday, saying that Pence “should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.”
Dear @VP @Mike_Pence: You need to start the 25th Amendment. @realDonaldTrump is detached from reality. https://t.co/FkGBte8ZxB
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 6, 2021
