Following Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol by MAGA insurgents that unsuccessfully sought to prevent the verification of the 2020 presidential election, GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger (of Illinois) has broken ranks with his party by becoming the first GOP congressman to support removing Donald Trump from office. In a video posted to Twitter, Kinzinger calls for Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment before he can do any more damage in his final two weeks as president.
Kinzinger made the call with a video posted to Twitter.
It’s with a heavy heart I am calling for the sake of our Democracy that the 25th Amendment be invoked. My statement: pic.twitter.com/yVyQrYcjuD
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) January 7, 2021
While lauding Congress for holding strong and protecting democracy by certifying the election following the assault, Kinzinger laid the blame for the storming of the Capitol building at Trump’s feet. “He invoked and inflamed passions that only gave fuel to the insurrection that we saw here,” Kinzinger said. When it game time to quell the violence, Kinzinger noted that Trump not only did the bare minimum, but he continued to support the perpetrators.”When pressed to move and denounce the violence, he barely did so while, of course, victimizing himself and seeming to give a wink and a nod to those doing it.” It’s the evidence of being “unmoored from reality itself” that prompted Kinzinger to seek Trump’s removal. Via Axios:
“It is for this reason that I call for the vice president and members of the Cabinet to ensure the next few weeks are safe for the American people and that we have a sane captain of the ship. It’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment and to end this nightmare … The president caused this, the president is unfit and the president is unwell, and the president must now relinquish control of the executive branch voluntarily or involuntarily.”
The Republican congressman is not alone in calling for Pence to invoke the 25th amendement. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also issued a statement on Thursday urging the use of the 25th amendment. If Pence won’t act, Schumer says Congress must reconvene and move for impeachment.
.@SenSchumer calls for invoking the 25th Amendment, and if that isn’t utilized, for Congress to reconvene and impeach Pres. Trump again: pic.twitter.com/RA5R38cXgc
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) January 7, 2021
Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez has made the same call.
If the 25th amendment is not invoked today, Congress must reconvene immediately for impeachment and removal proceedings.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 7, 2021
(Via Adam Kinzinger on Twitter & Axios)