Calling President Trump “treasonous” and “a clear and present danger,” members of New York City’s congressional delegation joining Mayor de Blasio at City Hall on Saturday to amplify calls for the president’s immediate ouster.
The push for Trump to resign, be removed through the 25th Amendment or be impeached — a chorus that some Republicans have joined — is intensifying following Wednesday’s deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol by rioters inspired by the president.
“Donald Trump must be removed from office immediately, he should be impeached, convicted and thrown out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and forever banished to the dustbin of history,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, chair of the House Democratic Caucus.
Trump has just 11 days left in office, but Jeffries said every hour poses a potential danger.
“He should resign immediately. He is a clear threat to our democracy,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House Oversight Committee.
De Blasio said, “Anyone who is that treasonous, anyone who has lost control of his mental abilities as to start an insurrection against the United States should not have his finger on the nuclear button.”
Newly sworn-in Rep. Jamaal Bowman accused Trump of fomenting white nationalism.
The Democrats said they want the president to resign immediately or be impeached. House members could vote on articles of impeachment as soon as next week, potentially removing Trump’s pardon powers and barring him from running for office again. But it is unlikely that the Senate would take up the proceedings before Trump’s term is up, stretching the process into incoming president Joe Biden’s term.
Not present at the City Hall news conference was the city’s only Republican House member, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island and Brooklyn.
A supporter of Trump, Malliotakis earlier this week stood by her opposition to Arizona and Pennsylvania’s electoral votes despite being in the Capitol during the attacks by supporters of the president inspired by his unfounded charges of widespread election fraud.
Some New York Democrats have called for her resignation.
Malliotakis said in a statement: “Democrats in Congress have raised objections to electoral votes of every elected Republican President since 1989. I must have missed their outrage when Nancy Pelosi objected to Ohio in 2005 calling Congress’s ability to object to electoral votes, ‘fundamental to our democracy.’”
In Washington, the chorus for Trump to be pushed out immediately was loud and bipartisan, with Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski joining the ranks. But Biden himself has stopped short of demanding that immediately leave, noting that only days remain until the transition of power is completed.