Powerful House Democrat Asks if 25th Amendment Solution Worth Considering

Today this tweet popped up.

Dear Cabinet Officials:

Today’s #coronavirus briefing went from bad to worse.

Deeply troubling.

Some people are saying it may be time to invoke the #25thAmendment.

Thoughts?

— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) April 18, 2020

So, why should we give a damn? This is probably the millionth time someone with sense has called for Trump’s ouster via the 25th Amendment. And Pence, who is the only one who can trigger it, will never, ever do it. Why is this important?

For the simple reason that Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, one of the main players in the House impeachment proceedings, and a House Democrat close to both Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff. He’s a rising star in Democratic politics, and a powerful voice in the black and progressive Democratic communities.

And, most importantly, because Jeffries, a member of the House leadership, would have never issued such a damning tweet if Pelosi and the House Leadership weren’t behind it. I almost titled this “House Leadership Calls for 25th Amendment Invocation,” but that would be going further than Jeffries went. But not a lot further.

In short: Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic leadership are calling for the White House to consider kicking Trump’s ass to the curb via the 25th Amendment.

So what in Bog’s name did the stupid son of a bitch say this time? Well, I didn’t watch it. I don’t watch any of his stunt “briefings.” The media pays people hazard pay to stick their heads in that rhetorical sewage pipe every day and extract…something…out of it. Here’s what I’ve gleaned from today’s Two-Minute Hate:

I challenge you to try and make sense of this Trump rant pic.twitter.com/4umIOeHle2

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 18, 2020

I tried. I really did try to listen to all 39 seconds of it. I felt a blood vessel over my eye start to throb about ten seconds in, and I ceased-and-desisted.

He told a blizzard of lies. Nothing new here. CNN has a breakdown of Trump’s daily breakdown. Apparently he tried to claim that having less casualties to COVID-19 than we suffered during World War I is a good thing. Or something.

Trump left the poduim at 6:16. (No one reported if he left a trail of diarrhea leakage behind him as he stalked off the stage.)

Jeffries posted his tweet 33 minutes later.

I have no idea what specifically prompted Jeffries to issue his call to consider a 25th Amendment remedy for Trump today. Maybe Pelosi just had as much of his vitrolic spew as she could handle. Maybe Jeffries just threw his hands up and said “Fuck it, let’s light this candle.” Whatever it was, I guarantee he ran it by Pelosi before posting it.

Twitter is a truly ephemeral flavor of social media. 99% plus of all tweets sink without a trace within minutes. This one may well sink right along with the rest of them.

But I think it may not. It is a shot fired across the White House’s bow by the House Democrats. For the first time that I’m aware of, a senior member of the House Democratic leadership publicly suggested that the 25th Amendment — the removal of the sitting president because he is mentally unfit for the job — be challenged.

Long overdue. Why don't elected officials and journalists broach the subject of Trump's drug abuse, mental illness and lack of mental acuity/capacity?

— tom tomlinson (@tomlinson1965) April 18, 2020

Well, Tom, now that the House Democrats have opened that door, maybe they will. Bookmark Jeffries’s tweet. We might just want to refer back to it again.

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