Wild will vote to impeach, Toomey calls Trump’s actions ‘impeachable’
U.S. Rep. Susan Wild said Friday she will vote to impeach President Donald Trump if he’s not removed through the U.S. Constitution’s 25th Amendment, which enables the removal of a president deemed unfit.
And Saturday, Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who voted to acquit Trump when the president was impeached, said he wasn’t sure how he would vote if Trump was impeached again.
Wild, D-7th District, and other legislators have called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment.
Wild issued her statement two days after deadly violence erupted in Washington, D.C., when Trump supporters
stormed the U.S. Capitol building in a bid to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s election to the presidency. In the melee, Wild and other members of Congress were forced to huddle in the House of Representatives gallery as gunshots were fired outside.
“After spending months making false and destructive claims contesting the results of the November presidential election, President Trump urged his followers to rise up against the election certification process in Congress,” Wild said in her statement.
“Galvanized by his words, a mob, armed with [various weapons], attacked law enforcement officers and breached multiple layers of security until reaching the doors of the House chamber,” where they “brought the work of democracy to a halt” and “threatened the lives of elected officials including Vice President Pence.”
Toomey told Fox News host Paul Gigot he was unsure how he would vote if the unlikely happened and senators had an opportunity to remove Trump from power. He questioned how the Senate could give Trump a reasonable opportunity to prepare his defense with so little time left to his presidency.
“One of the things that I’m concerned about, frankly, is whether the House would completely politicize something. I do think the president committed impeachable offenses, but I don’t know what is going to land on the Senate floor, if anything,” Toomey said.
Toomey’s office declined to expand on his comments Saturday evening, saying the interview spoke for itself.
During the siege of the Capitol, Toomey called the violence in Washington “an absolute disgrace” in a tweet and went on to thank the U.S. Capitol Police.
Five people died during the siege, authorities said, three from natural causes. U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, 42, of Virginia, died from injuries sustained in the line of duty, while Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, 35, of San Diego, was fatally shot by police.
Dozens of people, including several from Pennsylvania, have since been arrested on charges of unlawful entry, weapons offenses and violation of a curfew imposed to curtail the violence.
“Not only did the president set the stage for the attack, he also failed to take unequivocal and decisive action to condemn and stop the attack during the crucial hours in which it occurred,” Wild said. “He abdicated the oath he swore to this country to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’ What happened this week must never be allowed to happen again.”
Wild called on Pence to do his “patriotic duty” and secure the support of Cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment. If he doesn’t, Wild said she would vote to impeach Trump.
Democrats have called on Trump to resign and threatened to bring charges against him if he doesn’t.