Donald Trump Faces Bipartisan Calls To Resign
On Sunday, members of both parties accused President Donald Trump of inciting Wednesday’s riots at the United States Capitol and called on him to resign.
As reported by The Hill, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press, telling anchor Chuck Todd that the commander-in-chief should put the country first and leave office.
“I think the best way for our country, Chuck, is for the president to resign and go away as soon as possible.”
Toomey noted that the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not appear to be a realistic option, since members of Trump’s Cabinet seem unwilling to use it. He argued that there is no point in impeaching the commander-in-chief since he will leave office in 10 days.
Toomey repeated the same arguments on CNN during an interview with host Jake Tapper, saying that Trump has “disqualified himself” from ever serving in the U.S. government again. The senator also predicted that Trump would not have significant influence over the GOP in the future.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie went on ABC’s This Week to argue that Trump needs to be impeached because he incited violence. “I think if inciting to insurrection isn’t [an impeachable offense], I don’t really know what it is,” Christie, a longtime ally of Trump, told ABC.
In an interview with CBS News’ Face the Nation, Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware called on Trump to resign and said that either the 25th Amendment or impeachment should be invoked to oust him from the White House if he refuses to step down on his own.
Coons noted that many GOP lawmakers have spent the past several days calling for “healing,” but argued that the country cannot move forward unless the president is held accountable. He said that Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri — who endorsed Trump’s evidence-free theories about the 2020 election — need to step down as well.
“I’ll tell you that there can only be reconciliation with repentance,” Coons added, urging his Republican colleagues to “persuade” their supporters that Democrat Joe Biden legitimately won the election.
"There needs to be accountability for his actions whether that comes through the NY AG or @TheJusticeDept will have to lead for now…there can only be reconciliation with repentance" @ChrisCoons tells @margbrennan of prosecuting #Trump pic.twitter.com/7ODqTvtzlH
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 10, 2021
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries told NBC that Trump “presents a danger to the American people” and argued that the U.S. Congress has a duty to remove him from the White House.
“We have a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out of control executive branch. Donald Trump is completely and totally out of control, and even his longtime enablers have now come to that conclusion,” Jeffries said.
