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In the wake of Wednesday’s violent attack on the U.S. Capitol incited by President Donald Trump and some GOP lawmakers who opposed the certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory, a growing list of elected officials, leaders of civil society groups, and other individuals have publicly called for swiftly impeaching the president or removing him from office by invoking the 25th Amendment.
After months of lying about voter fraud and claiming he won in November, Trump on Thursday conceded to Biden and said his “focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly, and seamless transition of power.” He also claimed to be “outraged by the violence, lawlessness, and mayhem” at the Capitol without acknowledging his role.
Earlier Thursday, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) introduced articles of impeachment against Trump, calling him “the single greatest threat to our democracy.” On Wednesday, after the pro-Trump mob took over the Capitol, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) announced that her first congressional resolution will “call for the expulsion of the Republican members of Congress who incited this domestic terror attack.”
While Vice President Mike Pence—who oversaw the certification of Biden’s win—reportedly opposes using the 25th Amendment to oust Trump, and the Democrat-controlled House has adjourned until Biden’s January 20 inauguration, meaning an impeachment is not expected in the coming days, demands for the president’s removal have continued to stack up. Here is a selection of those statements since Wednesday:
The American Sustainable Business Council
“Vice President Michael R. Pence with the Cabinet should immediately invoke the 25th Amendment to remove all presidential authority from Donald J. Trump. Congress should immediately move to impeach and convict Trump to hold him accountable and assure he will never hold another office of public trust again.”
The Center for Constitutional Rights
“We cannot risk another day of Trump in power. The vice president or Trump’s cabinet must invoke the 25th Amendment, or Congress must impeach him and immediately remove him from the White House because he is not fit for office, poses a danger to our country, and is capable of creating even more desperate chaos in his remaining days in office. Trump has been inciting racial violence and emboldening white supremacists for his entire career, from calling for the death penalty for the Black teenagers wrongly convicted in the Central Park jogger case, to challenging [former President Barack] Obama’s birth certificate, to invoking Mexican ‘rapists’ when he announced his candidacy, to almost every policy he has enacted and action he has taken as president, right up to directly inducing yesterday’s violence by instructing his supporters to march down Pennsylvania Avenue and head to Congress in a show of ‘strength,’ and telling them ‘we love you’ after they had done his violent bidding and taken over the Capitol building.”
MomsRising
“There is no question that Donald Trump, aided and abetted by unprincipled Republican members of Congress, inspired this attack on our democracy—both by inciting the violence and exacerbating the structural racism and bigotry that drives it… It would be irresponsible and dangerous for lawmakers to allow Trump to complete the last two weeks of his term. He must be removed from office now. We are asking Congress to impeach him and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.”
Bonnie Castillo, executive director of National Nurses Union
“As nurses, we are deeply disturbed by the scenes of violence and threats to our elected leaders, the dedicated people who work in the Capitol, and anyone else subjected to this unconscionable attack on our most fundamental symbols of democracy… The president has been encouraging sedition. No one is above the law. He is responsible for the scenes we have seen today at the Capitol and he should be held accountable.”
Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group
“By baselessly insisting, as he has in virtually every public utterance for months now, that the office of president of the United States is rightfully and lawfully his, Trump willfully infects our body politic with a seditious poison whose antidemocratic effects will linger for years. Every hour he is allowed to occupy his office legitimizes this harm and endangers our country. We therefore call on the principal officers of the executive branch to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment to remove a demagogue who is manifestly unfit for office. We also call on Congress to impeach and convict Trump as soon as possible, barring him from ever again holding federal office.”
Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
“From Charlottesville to Pittsburgh to Poway to Gilroy to El Paso to the Capitol, we’ve seen this violence play out too many times. Cornered and desperate, Trump is inciting violence and putting all of us in danger by refusing to concede and allow for the peaceful transition of power. We won’t allow our country to be taken over by a right-wing minority who will not observe or abide by democratic practices. Every Republican responsible, from the president to senators, House members to state legislators, who fed, fueled, and fomented these attacks must be removed or resign.”
Sean Eldridge, founder and president of Stand Up America
“Donald Trump is a threat to our nation and our democracy. Congress must immediately impeach and remove him from office—and every leader should condemn today’s violent insurrection.”
Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause
“Make no mistake, President Trump incited this violence in an attempt to subvert the will of the people in a fair, legal, and certified election. Incitement to overthrow the U.S. government is a seditious conspiracy, a criminal offense. President Trump must be removed from office as soon as possible, indicted, and convicted.”
George Goehl, director of People’s Action
“The Republican Party has played with fire for years, aiding and abetting an authoritarian, racist president. Now, they and the whole country have been burnt. Vice President Pence and the Cabinet must immediately use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power. If they don’t have the guts, Congress should impeach the president and bar him from ever running for federal office again.”
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP
“In the latest show of failed leadership, we witnessed the Capitol under siege by bad actors who had no other objective than to disrupt the constitutional proceedings of a fair and rightful transition of power. At this moment, President Trump is silent and continues to perpetuate lies and disinformation for his selfish amusement and personal gain. We must not allow President Trump to continue to place our nation in peril. The NAACP calls for President Trump’s impeachment so that he will never again be able to harm our beloved country, and more importantly, its people.”
Brian Kettering, co-executive director of Center for Popular Democracy Action
“[CPDA] supports the growing calls, led by Rep. Ilhan Omar and a number of House representatives, for the impeachment of Trump as the prime instigator of the seditious attack on the U.S. Capitol today… Furthermore, we support the resolution introduced by Rep. Cori Bush calling for the investigation and possible expulsion of the members of Congress who have voiced support for a reversal of the election… We cannot stand by while the very people elected to protect our democracy encourage violent attempts to overthrow the government.”
Annie Leonard, executive director of Greenpeace USA
“Donald Trump must be immediately removed from office before he succeeds in violently overthrowing American democracy. Yesterday’s white supremacist, anti-democratic attack on representative government was carefully and intentionally coordinated by Trump and many others on the right wing in order to prevent every vote from being counted. It was a desperate attempt by violent insurrectionists to hold on to power at all costs. Those responsible must be held accountable.”
Brandee Marckmann, co-chair of San Francisco Berniecrats, an Our Revolution affiliate
“Trump should be impeached. History will not be kind to politicians whose inaction enables white supremacist terrorists and presidents who brazenly cheer them on. Inaction enables terrorism, and inaction ensures that cycles of racism and terrorism will repeat. Not holding leaders accountable for inciting terrorism sends a clear message to terrorists and those whom they terrorize. The world is watching.”
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association
“To protect our democracy and ensure the safety of our nation, the National Education Association is calling for the immediate removal of Donald Trump from the office of the president. Yesterday wasn’t the first heinous and anti-democratic act of violence directed by the current president and his allies, and it won’t be the last if he isn’t removed from office now.”
Robert Weissman and Lisa Gilbert, president and vice president of Public Citizen
“Invoking the 25th Amendment in this way is without precedent and should only be done in the most extreme circumstances. But we are now living in those most extreme circumstances. Your country is relying on you to honor your duty to the Constitution and protect us all.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.