Push to impeach Kamala Harris explained

Despite Joe Biden again throwing his support behind Kamala Harris, questions have been raised about whether she’s fit for the top job following impeachment calls. See what it means.

Joe Biden has again thrown his support behind Kamala Harris to be the next US President during an address to the nation.

It comes as questions have been raised about whether Ms Harris can be impeached over her handling of America’s border crisis.

Ms Harris appointed by Mr Biden as his border tsar to help fix the immigration crisis.

But a record number of migrants have since flooded across the southern US border, in what Republicans have seized on as a key election issue and perhaps the biggest failing of the Biden-Harris administration.

WHO IS CALLING FOR KAMALA HARRIS TO BE IMPEACHED?

Congressman Andy Ogles, of Tennessee, is calling for Vice President Harris to be held “accountable”, arguing she has not done her job.

“We have a crisis at the southern border. We are being invaded. Our kids, our streets are being poisoned by fentanyl. And then crime is running rampant,” Congressman Ogles told US breakfast show Mornings with Maria.

“We’ve got to define [Harris] before the woke media can reinvent her.”

HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON FOR?

Mr Ogles filed impeachment articles against the Vice President last year but they were unsuccessful.

The Republican member has this week refreshed his stance, and introduced impeached articles against Ms Harris.

WHAT IS CONGRESSMAN OGLES’ ARGUMENT?

In a statement issued by Congressman Ogles on Tuesday he said Ms Harris “disgraced the Office of the Vice President and willfully disregarded her oath to uphold and defend the Constitution”.

Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN) is pushing for Kamal Harris to be impeached over her role in America’s border crisis. Picture: AFP

“She is not only an embarrassment to the country but has also intentionally ignored her responsibility to enforce the laws of the United States and protect the American people,” Congressman Ogle said.

“On her watch, every single town has become a border town. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have overdosed on illicit drugs brought across the southern border, and countless women and children have been raped and murdered.

“Kamala Harris has betrayed the trust of the public by failing to exercise her sworn duty to employ the provisions of the 25th Amendment to remove President Biden from office when it became apparent that he was mentally and physically incapable of continuing to serve.

“For these reasons alone, immediate action should be taken to impeach her.”

WHAT DO CRITICS SAY?

Critics of Congressman Ogles’ impeachment efforts have argued his action is a stunt aimed at undermining Ms Harris’ White House run.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it “a desperate attempt to distract from the GOP’s failures”.

HOW JOE BIDEN SECRETLY PLANNED HIS EXIT

As late as Sunday morning, Biden loyalists were backing him on talk shows, completely unaware that he was about to quit the race altogether.

The Democrats’ election campaign machine was rolling on as planned; Joe Biden was the only man to beat Donald Trump.

But what his staff, and even the Vice President Kamala Harris did not know, was that for the past 24 hours the President had secretly been working on his exit strategy.

Having retreated to his holiday home in Delaware last week after catching Covid, and one week after the attempted assassination of his nemesis Donald Trump, Mr Biden made the decision to pull the plug on his bid for a second term in office.

Officials told The New York Times, on condition of anonymity, that he began changing his mind on Saturday, while discussing the situation with family members.

Three of his aides were there too; counsel Steve Ricchetti, Annie Tomasini, his deputy chief of staff and Anthony Bernal, the chief of staff to his wife Jill Biden.

Joe Biden and Annie Tomasini. Picture: Mandel Ngan/AFP

Jill Biden and Anthony Bernal. Picture: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images via AFP

Later the President asked Mike Donilon, his longtime speechwriter to join them.

It was there, while socially distancing, they worked late into the night on how best to execute his decision.

Almost no-one outside the house knew what was about to happen - and his move to pull out so late in the race has set the scene for one of the most unpredictable US elections in history.

Around 2pm on Sunday, the President posted on X, “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”

In a subsequent post he backed VP Harris to be his successor.

He told a few of his closest aides, including his chief of staff Jeff Zients on a video call, prior to the announcement.

Others were told one minute before the post, while most of his campaign staff in the West Wing only learnt about it on social media. In fact, minutes before the announcement went live, staff were still working the phones to push Democrats to stand with him.

While Mr Biden standing down was a shock to many, in reality the die was cast 24 days prior, following his disastrous performance in the first presidential debate.

It was then that the world learnt the true extent of the 81-year-old President’s physical and cognitive decline.

George Clooney publicly stated it was time for Joe Biden to step down. Picture: X

After shuffling onto the stage, mumbling and stumbling over his words, losing his train of thought and getting his facts wrong, there was only one way this was going to go.

Subsequent gaffes following that TV debate included introducing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as President Putin, the man who had invaded his country, and accidentally calling Ms Harris, Vice President Trump.

Calls from Mr Biden’s friends and allies for him to stand down had grown from a few to many.

High profile Democrat supporter and actor George Clooney published a letter in The New York Times on July 10.

“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”

News that behind the scenes former president Barack Obama and others were working to encourage Mr Biden to do the right thing, was also leaked to the media.

They got what they wanted.

While Mr Biden, has promised to address the nation later in the week, he will remain isolated in his Delaware home, no doubt wondering how it all came to this.