Democratic leaders asked Donald Trump to be forced out of office before his term ended on January 20 for his role in inciting the crowd to attack the US Congress in what his successor Joe Biden described as “one of the days darkest “History of the United States.
The president-elect said Wednesday’s insurrection was led by “domestic terrorists” and accused his predecessor of unleashing a “total attack” on the country’s democratic institutions.
As a new 7-foot fence was erected late around the Capitol on Thursday, an investigation was launched into why the U.S. seat of democracy was left so poorly defended against a predictable attack.
But the main political focus was on the dangers of allowing a president widely seen as the final instigator of Wednesday’s crowd attack to retain power for the remaining two weeks before Biden’s inauguration.
Chuck Schumer, who is the next Senate majority leader after the democratic sweep in Georgia, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, called for Trump to be removed through the 25th amendment to the constitution, which allows a president to be replaced by his vice president, if they are unable to do their job.
Otherwise, they argued that he should be charged a second time.
Pelosi described Trump as “a very dangerous person who should not remain in office”.
“This is urgent. This is an emergency of the highest magnitude,” said Pelosi.
Several Democratic members of Congress drafted new articles of impeachment for inciting Wednesday’s violence and deliberating on the subversion of US democracy.
“What happened yesterday at the United States Capitol was an insurrection against the United States, prompted by President Trump. This president should not be in office for another day. The quickest and most effective way – can be done today – to remove that president from office would be for the vice president to immediately invoke the 25th amendment, ”said Schumer in a tweet.
“If the vice president and the cabinet refuse to stand, Congress must meet again to accuse President Trump.”
The charges for Trump’s second impeachment were made by several Democratic congressmen – Ilhan Omar, Ted Lieu, Jamie Raskin and David Cicilline – accusing him of “deliberately inciting violence against the United States government” and warning that he remained “a threatens national government security, democracy and constitution, if allowed to remain in office ”.
The use of the 25th amendment, claiming that ineptitude for the job is a form of disability, would have the cooperation of Republicans, including the vice president, Mike Pence, who would take over the government in the final two weeks. This seemed unlikely on Thursday.
Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a frequent Republican critic of Trump, joined in calls for the 25th amendment to be invoked, saying in a video message: “The president must now relinquish control of the executive branch voluntarily or involuntarily.”
But the Republican Party leadership did not seem shocked enough to dismiss its leader, who was warmly welcomed in a conference call with the Republican National Committee on Thursday morning.
There were a handful of resignations from second-tier officials, including transportation secretary Elaine Chao (married to the current Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell); the deputy national security adviser, Matthew Pottinger; Northern Ireland’s envoy (and former White House chief of staff), Mick Mulvaney; and the first lady’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham. But there was still no sign of an exodus or radical upheaval that would be needed to get the president out of office.
Trump supporters in Congress and Fox News quickly began to circulate baseless conspiracy theories that disguised members of the left-wing antifa movement that had sparked the insurrection.
The president himself made no public statements on Thursday and, after a call with the Republican National Committee, spent part of the day handing the presidential medal of freedom to two golfers and an Olympic athlete, one posthumously.
Facebook has imposed an indefinite ban on Trump, whose campaign has long used the platform to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories. The decision may also have been influenced by Democratic success in taking control of the Senate.
Former government officials were scathing about the president’s role, most notably the late attorney general, William Barr, who said Trump was guilty of “betraying his office and his supporters” for “orchestrating a crowd to pressure Congress “.
Former defense secretary James Mattis said Trump “fueled” the attack, with the aim of “subduing American democracy by crowd dominance”.
But current Republican leaders were much more cautious. McConnell said the blame for the attack lies with the “unbalanced criminals” who carried it out “and those who incited them”, but did not name the president.
Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s main allies in Congress, asked the president to accept his own role in the violence, saying that Trump “needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution”.
But asked about calls for Trump to be removed from office, the South Carolina senator said: “I don’t think it’s appropriate at this point. I am looking for a peaceful transfer of power. “
A YouGov poll of Republicans found that 45% of them supported the takeover of the Capitol, 2% more than those who opposed it.
At least some of Trump’s main supporters abroad have tried to distance themselves, including Boris Johnson, who said it was “completely wrong” to “encourage people to invade the Capitol” and cast doubt on the outcome of the election.
In Washington, law enforcement agencies tried to respond to widespread outrage over the apparent impunity of insurrectionists and the lack of adequate defenses for a vital government body.
Michael Sherwin, the District Attorney for the District of Columbia, said the protesters could face charges, including charges of seditious conspiracy and insurrection.
More than 90 people were arrested by the police in Washington, and Sherwin said prosecutors would bring “as many charges as we can”.
McConnell said the failure to protect the US Capitol was a “massive failure” and called for a full investigation. The Congressional arms sergeant, responsible for the building’s general security, resigned on Thursday, but Pelosi asked the Capitol Police Chief, Steven Sund, to resign as well.
Sund issued a statement saying that the invasion of the legislature was “unlike any I have experienced in my 30 years in law enforcement here” and argued that his officers had spread out by having to respond to two bombs found near the Capitol, not at the same time as the assault.
Pelosi also said he did not receive a satisfactory response from defense secretary Christopher Miller about why the national guard took so long to respond, arriving in significant numbers only after the Capitol was occupied.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told reporters that he expected Wednesday’s events to be like other recent protests, adding that Pentagon officials had not imagined a violation of the Capitol in their “wildest imagination”.
The head of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department also said: “There was no intelligence to suggest that there would be a violation of the United States Capitol.”
Critics responded that those responsible had telegraphed their intentions in advance.
“Everything was open on public social media sites, not to mention the president’s speech,” commented John Sipher, a former CIA official, on Twitter.