On Jan. 6, 2021, members of our Senate and House of Representatives met to fulfill their constitutional obligation to certify the vote of the Electoral College to elect the next president of the United States. The process was being carried out in its lawful form in the sacred halls of the Capitol when a ruthless mob of Trump supporters invaded the Capitol. The mob’s mission was to keep Donald Trump in power against the expressed will of American voters. This mob invaded the people’s house and caused damage and destruction. They are also responsible for the deaths of five Americans, including a police officer.
Donald Trump must be held accountable for inciting this mob in a fruitless effort to disrupt and overthrow the United States Congress. At a rally on the National Mall, he told supporters to march to the Capitol and to fight for him. He told them he would be there to lead them. Trump knew the lies he had been spouting since his loss in November had a receptive audience. He knew his encouragement would lead to the mob action that we bore witness to on Wednesday. Trump’s obvious goal was to use the actions of others to retain power for himself. What we saw on Wednesday was nothing less than an attempted coup and an assault on the democratic values and processes that we all hold dear.
Trump should not be allowed to continue another day as president. He should either resign, be removed by the invocation of the 25th Amendment or be removed by impeachment.
In addition, once Trump is out of office, there must be a thorough investigation of the events that led to the assault on the Capitol and a full prosecution of all of those responsible for it, including Trump. Anything less would open the doors to future wannabe dictators who wish to assault our sacred American institutions.
We must remember that Trump has not acted alone. For the past four years, he has been aided and abetted by all who have enabled him and actively or tacitly supported him in his actions. Mike Pence, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and others have cravenly used Trump to further their own agendas while ignoring the stark warning signs of the clear and present danger to our democracy shown by Trump’s actions and behaviors. Their support of Trump clearly gave him the feeling of invincibility in taking whatever actions he thought necessary to retain power.