SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The calls for action against President Donald Trump following the violence in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday have been growing louder. This includes from Congressman Ami Bera, U.S. Representative for California’s 7th District, who was there when the violence erupted at the Capitol.
“It’s still hard to believe a little over 24 hours later, when you kind of reflect back over what happened [Wednesday], that happened here in the United States of America, in our nation’s Capitol, at the symbol of our democracy, the United States Capitol Building,” Bera said.
He laid the blame at the feet of Trump.
“You don’t use a term like sedition lightly, but what the president did was he incited the mob,” Bera said. “He directed them to march down to the Capitol and we saw what happened at the United States Capitol. So for the President to say he doesn’t bear any responsibility, the responsibility goes directly back to the President of the United States.”
Bera said lawmakers have to be very careful with Trump’s actions leading up to the inauguration.
“Many of us feel, based on the actions of yesterday, the President is unfit to serve,” Bera said. “He can’t keep our nation safe right now. We should invoke the 25th amendment.”
Ash Bhagwat, a constitutional law professor at UC Davis, said he thinks it’s possible to invoke the 25th Amendment.
“I don’t think there is the courage in Washington D.C. to do that, but I do think that’s appropriate because President Trump’s actions [Wednesday] demonstrate that he does not have a commitment to democracy,” Bhagwat said.
He doesn’t, however, think lawmakers are the ones who need to take action.
“I think, honestly, the burden is on the cabinet right now,” Bhagwat said. “I think that if the cabinet fails to invoke the 25th Amendment that will set a very, very bad precedent about what presidents can get away with in the future.”
Bhagwat addressed the potential bias of a cabinet appointed by Trump himself.
“I cannot say this often enough, the constitution specifically requires all officials to swear to uphold the constitution. You do not swear an oath to the president,” Bhagwat emphasized.
Still, he did feel encouraged by some of what he saw Wednesday.
“The one thing that gave me comfort...was that the vast majority of Americans, as best I can tell, Republican and Democrat, were horrified by the events,” he said.
Yet, he does have concerns for the long-term health of the democracy of the United States.
“What worries me is the deep-seated lack of faith in our electoral processes, the obviously false belief that somehow the election was stolen with absolutely no evidence. And yet a huge number of people believe that,” Bhagwat said.
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