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Around the World
Trump faces increased pressure as 57% of Americans want him removed immediately
Majority of Americans want Trump to be removed from office following the violent invasion of the Capitol.
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.
READ: Facebook suspends Donald Trump indefinitely
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.
READ: Twitter permanently suspends Donald Trump
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.
READ: US Supreme court dismisses Texas bid to overturn presidential election results
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.
READ: Remittance flows to LMICs to decline by over 14% in 2021 – KNOMAD report
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.”
READ: President Donald Trump extends green card and visa ban due to pandemic
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.
Around the World
Donald Trump and Joe Biden clash over plans to lift travel ban on UK, EU, Brazil
Joe Biden’s incoming administration has dismissed plans by President Donald Trump to lift the coronavirus-related travel bans for non-American citizens.
The incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden has dismissed plans by the outgoing President, Donald Trump to lift the coronavirus-related travel bans for non-American citizens arriving from the European Union, the U.K. and Brazil, which means the curbs will stay in effect.
This follows the announcement from Trump in the White House on Monday that the bans could be lifted because of the administration’s last week’s decision to require international travellers to present either the results of a negative recent coronavirus test or evidence that they had already recovered from the disease. The change would go into effect starting Jan. 26, six days after Biden takes office.
However, the announcement by Donald Trump was rejected as Joe Biden’s Spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, in a tweet post, disclosed that the incoming administration plans to block the outgoing US President’s move according to a report from Bloomberg.
READ: Twitter drops 8.5% in early trading over President Trump ban
What Joe Biden’s spokeswoman is saying
- Psaki in her statement, tweeted, “On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19.’’
She said that with the worsening pandemic and more contagious variant emerging globally, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel.
READ: Suspending Trump was the right decision but sets dangerous precedent – Twitter CEO
What President Donald Trump has said
Trump, in a White House announcement, had pointed out that the international travel restrictions could be eased safely.
- Trump in a proclamation said, “This action is the best way to continue protecting Americans from Covid-19 while enabling travel to resume safely. Under his plan, travel bans would remain in place for China and Iran, the White House said, citing their “lack of cooperation” with the U.S. in fighting the virus.’’
The recent decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to require a negative Covid-19 test for people arriving in the U.S. from other countries was not directly linked to the travel ban but was seen as a way to impose safety restrictions that would allow for a resumption of travel.
Despite the surge in Covid-19 infections, experts conclude that allowing people into this country from other nations wouldn’t pose a significant risk, especially with new testing requirements.
READ: US Capitol complex temporarily shut down
What you should know
- It can be recalled that President Donald Trump had initially announced the restrictions on March 11 in the early days of the pandemic on nearly all non-US citizens who had travelled to 28 EU countries, China and Iran, as part of the bid to curb the spread of the virus.
- Brazil was later included in the travel ban on May 25 and applies to any foreign nationals who had been in any of those nations within the previous 14 days.
Around the World
US Capitol complex temporarily shut down
The US Capitol complex was shut down temporarily on Monday as a precautionary measure after a small fire broke out nearby.
The US Capitol complex was shut down temporarily for about an hour on Monday as a precautionary measure after a small fire broke out nearby, highlighting the security concerns that are being raised days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
The security concerns and the lockdown follows the January 6 attack on the US Capital by supporters of the outgoing US President, Donald Trump, after his encouragement and inciting comments, calling the Presidential election a fraud without any proof of evidence.
READ: President Trump says he won’t attend Joe Biden’s inauguration
Some of them even called for the death of the US Vice President, Mike Pence for presiding over the certification of Joe Biden’s November election victory.
While making the disclosure in a statement, the Capitol Police said that the lockdown has been lifted and the nearby fire contained.
The Acting Chief of the Capitol Police had said that the complex which comprises of the Capitol, its grounds and several buildings were shut down as a precautionary measure.
READ: US Supreme court dismisses Texas bid to overturn presidential election results
The US Secret Service in a tweet post on its official Twitter handle said, “Out of an abundance of caution the U.S. Capitol complex was temporarily shutdown. There is no threat to the public.’’
The city’s fire department in its tweet post said that firefighters put out a fire outside near the Capitol complex.
The fire department said, “There were no injuries. This accounts for smoke that many have seen.”
READ: Huawei accuses the United States of hacking
What you should know
- President-elect, Joe Biden is expected to be sworn in at the US Capitol on Wednesday amid an unprecedented cordon of security, with strict physical distancing measures in place due to threats of violent attacks in Washington and the rising cases of coronavirus infections.
- Donald Trump, who is just fresh from a historic second impeachment from the congress had said he would not attend, although his deputy, Vice President Mike Pence, had given an indication that he would attend.
Appointments
Joe Biden appoints Nigerian-born Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo as Counsel
Nigerian-American, Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo has been appointed as a member of the office of the White House Counsel.
