The pressure on United States President, Donald Trump, appears to be increasing as 57% of Americans want him to be removed immediately from office, following the violent invasion of the Capitol a few days ago.
This report is contained in a poll which was conducted by Reuters/Ipsos on Thursday and Friday, after his role in inciting the violence that occurred on Wednesday, which left a police officer and 4 other people dead.
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According to a report from Reuters, President Trump, who is becoming increasingly isolated, cut off from some social media platform – including a permanent ban from Twitter, is facing renewed drive from Democrats for his resignation or immediate impeachment, after encouraging his supporters to attack the US Capitol.
An angry Donald Trump has been denied access to his almost 90 million followers after Twitter permanently cut off his personal account on Friday, citing the risk of further incitement of violence.
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Trump’s frequent use of Twitter was a key part of his campaign, as he overhauled the Republican Party and beat Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the presidency in 2016. Since then, he has used it to fire up his political base, attacking those who opposed him.
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A move for President Trump’s removal
- The House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has been a subject of personal attack and threats from some of those invaders, said on Friday that she had instructed the House Rules Committee to go ahead with the impeachment process and legislation on US Constitution’s 25th Amendment, if President Trump fails to resign.
- The US Constitution’s 25th Amendment provides for the removal of a president who is unable to discharge his official duties.
- This is as a copy of draft articles of impeachment which is circulating among members of Congress has charged President Trump with “inciting violence and insurrection against the government of the United States,” in a bid to overturn his loss to Biden and stop the legislature from ratifying Joe Biden’s election.
- Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell, sent a memo to Republican senators detailing a possible timetable for an impeachment trial. However, according to a source, the timetable shows that the trial would not begin until Trump is out of office, as it notes that the Senate will hold its next week session on January 19 and needs the consent of all 100 senators to convene sooner.
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What some other senators are saying
As the rift within the Republican party appears to be growing, some of the senators appear to be ready to go against the US President.
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a frequent Trump critic, said he would definitely consider impeachment of the President, because he disregarded his oath of office.
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Republican Senator, Lisa Murkowski, on Friday, said Trump should resign immediately and if the party cannot separate itself from him, she is not certain she has a future with it. She said:
- “I want him out. He has caused enough damage.”
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Bottom line
It is quite unclear if the lawmakers would be able to remove President Trump from office with 12 days remaining, as an impeachment would require a trial in the Senate, where Republicans are still in the majority and two-third of the 100 members must vote for his removal.
