Springboarding off the controversy surrounding the anonymous op-ed published in The New York Times this week, in which a writer claimed there’s an internal “resistance” movement within the Trump administration, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Thursday that it’s time to use constitutional powers to remove President Donald Trump from the White House if others think he can’t do his job.
“If senior administration officials think the president of the United States is not able to do his job, then they should invoke the 25th Amendment,” Warren told CNN.
“The Constitution provides for a procedure whenever the vice president and senior officials think the president can’t do his job,” she added. “It does not provide that senior officials go around the president — take documents off his desk, write anonymous op-eds … Every one of these officials have sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States. It’s time for them to do their job.”
The 25th Amendment allows the vice president to take over as president if the current commander-in-chief is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
The op-ed writer was identified as a “senior Trump administration official” who says he or she is part of an internal “resistance” working quietly within the administration to thwart parts of Trump’s agenda — expressing doubts about Trump’s fitness to lead, along with concerns over his “erratic” governing style.
Here are other comments by Warren, who’s been in the Senate since 2013, on the issue:
If senior officials believe the president is unfit, they should stop hiding behind anonymous op-eds and leaking info to Bob Woodward, and do what the Constitution demands they do: invoke the 25th Amendment and remove this president from office.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 6, 2018
She is also urging followers to sign up on her campaign website — and tell the Trump Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment if the president can’t fulfill the duties of the office.
Warren, 69, recently released tax returns going back 10 years — perhaps laying the groundwork for a potential presidential run against Trump in 2020, as Fox News reported.
She is running for re-election to the Senate in November.
Some people theorized on Thursday that Vice President Mike Pence might be the op-ed’s author, but Pence senior staffer Jarrod Agen slapped that idea down almost immediately in blunt terms.
He blasted The Times for even publishing the piece in the first place.
“The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds,” Agen tweeted. “The @nytimes should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts.”
Trump himself has ripped into the anonymous piece since its publication, calling it “gutless” on Wednesday.
“We have somebody in what I call ‘the failing New York Times’ that’s talking about … part of the resistance inside the Trump administration. This is what we have to deal with. And you know the dishonest media … But it’s really a disgrace.”
He also addressed the controversy during his campaign-style rally in Billings, Montana, on Thursday night.
Melania Trump issued a strong statement as well against the piece.
Check out a variety of internet responses below to Elizabeth Warren’s statement — and weigh in yourself in the comments section below.
POCAHONTAS ON WARPATH=> Elizabeth Warren: If Trump is Unfit, Invoke 25th Amendment to Remove Him From Office https://t.co/VlUIIkdrHK pic.twitter.com/q4AxQl2SgL
— Chuck Woolery (@chuckwoolery) September 7, 2018
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Trump administration officials who think the president is unfit to serve should invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office, not anonymously leak or write op-eds https://t.co/85bBi1ZFBQ
— Knowhere News (@KnowhereNews) September 7, 2018
For the unaware, the 25th Amendment was designed for a situation in which the president has a stroke and is incapacitated, not for when he disagrees with a hysterical moron like Elizabeth Warren. https://t.co/zCIp1QSGEm
— David Horowitz (@horowitz39) September 7, 2018
So if what you say is true,any moron can anonymously write something about anyone one and it is to be taken as fact. Is every Dem running in 2020 going to grandstand about removal of Pres Tump as their platform.The Constitutional Crisis are the Dems??? https://t.co/xU3Bo7Etrn
— ??Craig the Tired?? (@CraigAr64) September 7, 2018
"Every minute they make excuses is a minute that our country is at risk."
https://t.co/39SDMG2787 #25thAmendment #ImpeachTrump— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) September 7, 2018
Elizabeth Warren: ‘It’s Time’ to Invoke the 25th Amendment #TomahawkChop pic.twitter.com/azyixakHdR
— Cowdog ????? (@kryptokoi) September 7, 2018
Joined @FoxNews to discuss Sen. Booker’s confidential docs release (nothing explosive yet against SCOTUS nominee) and Elizabeth Warren’s call to invoke the 25th amendment to remove Trump (which takes more votes in Congress than it does to impeach a president). pic.twitter.com/CTZsUZw3dm
— Alex Swoyer, esq. (@ASwoyer) September 7, 2018
(photo credit, article image: Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, by )
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