Last updated on January 13th, 2021 at 03:38 am
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said on Saturday that the House’s quick move toward impeaching Donald Trump for a second time is the right course of action, even if some believe it isn’t likely to result in the president’s removal before Jan. 20.
During an interview on MSNBC, Jeffries said that the public is demanding accountability for the president’s actions that led to an attack on the U.S. Capitol, and that Mitch McConnell and the Senate GOP should quickly remove Trump once the House impeaches him.
“The public wants accountability,” the Democratic lawmaker said. “They understand that that insurrection was incited and encouraged by the president of the United States of America.”
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Jeffries said that it is up to the House of Representatives to put pressure on Senate Republicans – Mitch McConnell, in particular – to do the right thing and hold Trump accountable.
“Let history be the ones to decide and make judgment that it was the Senate who kept this dangerous man in office, not the House,” he said.
Video:
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) says Donald Trump must be held accountable for inciting a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. pic.twitter.com/hFcMwOffd0
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) January 9, 2021
Rep. Jeffries said:
The American people are demanding accountability. And as Abraham Lincoln once said, public sentiment is everything, right? With it, you can accomplish your objectives. Without it, nothing can succeed. So public sentiment is on the side of accountability, understandably, because the insurrection was an attack on our democracy, an attack on the Constitution, and an attack on the country. The public wants accountability. They understand that that insurrection was incited and encouraged by the president of the United States of America, and so in the absence of the House acting, there is no pressure on the Senate do the right thing, and that’s been the problem over the last four years – that Senate Republicans led by Mitch McConnell and many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in the House have either buried their heads in the sand to act like the president is not a danger to this country or they’ve actively supported him. We should not let them off the hook. Let history be the ones to decide and make judgment that it was the Senate who kept this dangerous man in office, not the House.
Donald Trump must face consequences for the U.S. Capitol attack
Donald Trump has spent four years abusing his office and using the bully pulpit to pour gasoline on the country’s divisions. Every step of the way, Republicans in Congress have refused to hold him accountable.
With a House impeachment vote likely coming next week, the GOP Senate – led by Mitch McConnell – will have one last chance to do what they haven’t done for four years: Hold Donald Trump accountable.
There may only be 11 days left of the Trump presidency, but it’s never too late to do the right thing.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
