Capitol Hill riot: Top Senate Democrat calls for Trump s immediate removal
World
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer. AFP/File
WASHINGTON: Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said Thursday that President Donald Trump should be removed immediately from office after inciting the insurrection at the US Capitol. What happened at the US Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer, Schumer said, two weeks before Trump is scheduled to hand over power to President-elect Joe Biden.
Schumer called for intervention by Vice President Mike Pence, who angered Trump Wednesday by acknowledging he could not overturn their election defeat in a ceremonial congressional session raided by a pro-Trump mob.
Timeline: How One Of The Darkest Days In American History Unfolded
Wednesday will go down as one of the darkest days in American history.
It was all egged on by a sitting president, who has been unable to accept losing his bid for reelection and who persuaded millions of his followers to buy into baseless, debunked and disproved conspiracy theories.
The result: A mob violently storming and occupying the U.S. Capitol for hours, while staffers and lawmakers were evacuated or hid in fear. The vice president was also rushed from the floor of the Senate and taken to a secure location after criticisms were tweeted from his boss.
(JTA) Ruth Friedman could tell that Wednesday’s pro-Trump protests in Washington, D.C., might be volatile when she boarded a plane home to D.C. from her grandmother’s funeral on Tuesday.
The flight was full of people in MAGA gear on their way to Washington to protest the results of the presidential election, as President Donald Trump had urged them to. As the plane landed, she recalled, one man shouted “Who’s here to support President Trump?” Other people on the flight cheered and chanted “USA! USA!”
“I felt pretty freaked out because I’m Jewish,” said Friedman, who helps lead Ohev Sholom – The National Synagogue in Washington, D.C., an Orthodox congregation. “I really just tried to keep my head down. I really was genuinely afraid to engage.”
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called on Vice President
Mike Pence and Trump s Cabinet to remove the president from office by invoking the 25th Amendment. Both said they could move forward with impeachment if the vice president and secretaries do not act.
In a statement earlier Thursday, Schumer said Congress should reconvene to impeach the president if Pence and the Cabinet do not invoke the 25th Amendment. Pelosi said lawmakers may be prepared to take the step if executive branch officials do not try to remove him. She added that the move would have overwhelming support within her caucus.
Both Democratic leaders said Trump would endanger the country even in the two weeks he has left in office.
GOP lawmakers ask Trump to deescalate violence – Times News Online tnonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tnonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.