Trump ‘a clear and present danger’ to US, must be removed, Ocasio-Cortez says

President Donald Trump must be removed from office as a threat to the nation’s safety, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

“Every minute and every hour that he is in office represents a clear and present danger, not just to the United States Congress but frankly to the country,” Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said.

Calls for Trump to resign or be removed under the 25th Amendment or by impeachment have grown since his extremist supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday following a rally during which Trump falsely told them the election had been “stolen.”

The violence, in which five people died, interrupted congressional hearings to verify the election of President-elect Joe Biden, which was completed later that night.

Some of the intruders erected gallows, while others brought zip-ties for taking hostages amid talk of executing those seen as Trump’s adversaries, including Vice President Mike Pence. He had refused Trump’s request to throw out votes for Biden falsely cited as fraudulent.

“I think we were very close to actually having members of Congress killed,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., on “This Week.”

One of those who died, Brian Sicknick, was a Capitol police officer who was beaten with a fire extinguisher by rioters, The New York Times reported. Law enforcement officers defending the Capitol shot one intruder, who died, and three other rioters died of medical emergencies, authorities said.

Several of the extremists who stormed the Capitol have been identified and arrested through videos and photos they took inside the building. Others have lost jobs after being identified.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska, said Friday on conservative Hugh Hewitt’s radio show that Trump “incited” the crowd and “wanted chaos on television.”

“As this was unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren’t as excited as he was as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building,” Sasse said. “He was delighted.”

The House of Representatives may vote on impeaching Trump a second time as early as this week. On ABC’s “This Week,” Ocasio-Cortez said she supports the effort to protect the U.S.

“We’re also talking about complete barring of the president — or rather of Donald Trump — from running for office ever again,” she said. “If we allow insurrection against the United States with impunity, with no accountability, we are inviting it to happen again.”

Some Republicans have argued that an impeachment trial will further split the U.S., but Ocasio-Cortez disagreed.

“There is no ‘healing’ from this without accountability,” she wrote Saturday on Twitter. “And there is no ‘unity’ with white supremacists.”

Kinzinger said on “This Week” that he’d prefer for Trump to resign or be removed under the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which requires the approval of the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet.

“This is the thing that just gets us out of the debate in Congress, it doesn’t victimize Donald Trump, it makes him look as bad as he has been here,” Kinzinger said.

Rep. James Clyburn, D-SC, the House Majority Whip, said on Sunday the impeachment vote could come as early as Monday, but suggested it might not be sent to the U.S. Senate for trial until after Biden’s first 100 days in office, CNN reported.

“It just so happens that if it didn’t go over there for 100 days, it could — let’s give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running, and maybe we’ll send the articles sometime after that,” Clyburn said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has said he will not reconvene the Senate before Jan. 19 even if the House votes to impeach Trump, CNN reported.

This story was originally published January 10, 2021 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Trump ‘a clear and present danger’ to US, must be removed, Ocasio-Cortez says."