We’re surprised it’s taken this long. As the national outpouring of disgust following President Donald Trump’s response to last weekend’s attack in Charlottesville, Va. continues, at least one Democratic lawmaker is calling for Trump to be removed from office.
Claiming that Trump has failed to provide “moral leadership,” Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen told the Hill that he plans to introduce articles of impeachment against the president in defiance of the Democratic leadership, who worry that unsuccessful attempts to remove the president will make party look weak.
“Instead of unequivocally condemning hateful actions by neo-Nazis, white nationalists and Klansmen following a national tragedy, the President said 'there were very fine people on both sides.' There are no good Nazis. There are no good Klansmen,” Cohen said in a statement.”
“President Trump has failed the presidential test of moral leadership.”
However, Cohen will need to wait until next month before doing so because Congress is in recess until September. Assuming this whole controversy hasn’t been forgotten by then, Cohen will become the second Democrat after Rep. Brad Sherman to introduce articles of impeachment. So far, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) is the only other Democrat to endorse Sherman’s resolution.
After being repeatedly told that Democrats need to offer something to the middle and working class white voters who put Trump in officer, Democratic leaders have imposed a ban on impeachment proceedings, reasoning that they just don’t have the votes to take Trump down. Instead, they are focusing on the mid-terms with a 2018 messaging campaign released last month that doesn’t mention Trump.
However, the party might want to rethink that plan if outrage over Trump reportedly condoning white supremacy continues to snowball.
“But last weekend’s violent marches in Charlottesville have sparked new levels of Democratic outrage against the president, whose initial response was to blame “many sides” for the bloodshed in Virginia; he has now doubled down on that contention. Speaking Tuesday from Trump Tower in New York City, the president condemned the “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence” of groups like neo-Nazis, but also accused the counterprotesters — the “alt-left,” by his term — of being “very, very violent” and contributing to the tragic events.”
Apparently, support for impeachment is growing among Democrats.
“…Two House lawmakers — Reps. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and Jackie Spier (D-Calif.) — have called this week for his removal from office. Speier, in doing so, invoked the 25th Amendment, which outlines Congress’s impeachment powers, but stopped short of announcing plans to introduce her own articles of impeachment.”
Last month, Cohen introduced a resolution of no confidence in Trump. But following Trump’s response to the incident in Charlottesville, Cohen says he is “revolted” by the fact that Trump “couldn’t stand up and “unequivocally condemn Nazis.”
“As a Jew and as an American and as a representative of an African American district, I am revolted by the fact that the President of the United States couldn't stand up and unequivocally condemn Nazis who want to kill Jews and whose predecessors murdered 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, and could not unequivocally condemn Klansmen whose organization is dedicated to terrorizing African Americans,” Cohen said.
“No moral president would ever shy away from outright condemning hate, intolerance and bigotry.”
Given that Republicans still have a strong majority in the House, any plan submitted by Cohen will probably never see the light of day. Trump is safe. And the all the triggered SJWs can feel like they've accomplished something. Looks like everybody wins.