Republican chiefs turn on Donald Trump
Donald Trump is facing the ignominy of becoming the first American president to be impeached twice.
Republican leaders have turned on Donald Trump as he faces the ignominy of becoming the first American president to be impeached twice.
After a day of high drama in Washington, Democrats in the House of Representatives are expected to vote to impeach the President on Thursday (AEDT) for the second time in just over a year for his role in inciting the Capitol riots.
Unlike the last impeachment over Ukraine in 2019, Republican leaders such as Liz Cheney and Mitch McConnell now believe Mr Trump’s actions warrant the ultimate political punishment.
“There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the constitution,” said Ms Cheney, the party’s third-ranking house leader.
Senator McConnell, the Senate majority leader and previously one of the President’s most steadfast allies, is reported to believe that the impeachment effort would make it easier to purge Mr Trump from the party.
The defections of Ms Cheney and Senator McConnell reveal the damage inflicted on the President’s standing after he incited his supporters last week to march on the Capitol, where they stormed the building leaving five people dead, including a policeman.
Despite his looming impeachment, the President was defiant, expressing no remorse for his role in the deadly riot.
“They’ve analysed my speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence, and everybody just thought it was totally appropriate,” Mr Trump said before flying to Texas to visit the US-Mexico border to promote his wall.
The President lashed out at house Democrats who plan to vote to impeach him for an “incitement of insurrection”.
“On the impeachment, it’s really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics,” he said. “It’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
“This impeachment is causing tremendous anger, and you’re doing it, and it’s really a terrible thing that they’re doing.
“For Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to continue on this path, I think it’s causing tremendous danger to our country, and it’s causing tremendous anger. Want no violence.”
House Democrats voted on Wednesday (AEDT) by 223 to 205 to call on Vice-President Mike Pence to remove the President from office by invoking the 25th Amendment declaring that Mr Trump was unfit for office.
Shortly before the vote, Mr Pence told house Speaker Nancy Pelosi he would not invoke the 25th Amendment, a move that would require the support of the majority of Mr Trump’s cabinet.
Mr Pence said invoking the 25th was not “in the best interest of our nation or consistent with the constitution”.
Earlier, Mr Trump said “the 25th Amendment is of zero risk to me, but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration,” he said.
“As the expression goes, be careful of what you wish for.
“It’s time for peace and for calm. Respect for law enforcement is the foundation of the MAGA agenda.”
Ms Pelosi has vowed to proceed with a vote on impeachment on Thursday (AEDT).
House Democrats have the numbers to pass the impeachment vote.
The number of house Republicans set to vote for impeachment is also growing, with some sources saying up to 20 Republicans could ultimately vote to impeach the President.
Republican Adam Kinzinger has said he would vote to impeach Mr Trump because “there is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection.”
If the house impeaches Mr Trump, it is still unclear whether the Senate would immediately conduct a trial or wait until Joe Biden’s new administration has settled in.
Democrats led by Senator Schumer would need 17 Republicans to side with them in the new 50-50 Senate in order to convict Mr Trump and ban him from holding office again.
So far, three Republican senators have called on Mr Trump to resign and it is unclear whether Senator McConnell would also vote to convict the President.
But the mood in the Republican Party is turning against Mr Trump, raising hopes among Democrats of ultimately getting the support needed in the Senate to convict him.
Fox News reported that Senator McConnell was “done with Trump”, and has said he supported the decision by Democrats to pursue his impeachment.
Mr Trump argued on Wednesday (AEDT) that comments made by far-left activists during racial justice protests in recent months were far worse than what he said at last week’s rally.
“If you look at what other people have said, politicians at a high level about the riots during the summer, the horrible riots in Portland and Seattle and various other places, that was a real problem,” he said.
Mr Trump also took aim at Twitter and other social media platforms that have banned him in recent days.
“They are making a catastrophic mistake,” he said.
“They’re dividing and divisive, and they’re showing something that I’ve been predicting for a long time.”
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