House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would support Vice President Mike Pence invoking the 25th Amendment because it “gets rid” of President Trump.
Pelosi, who said the House has prepared an article of impeachment against the president for “inciting” his supporters to go on a rampage last Wednesday at the US Capitol, acknowledged the 25th Amendment would be more efficient in getting Trump out of the White House.
She was asked by CBS News’ “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl whether impeachment “makes sense” because the process could take longer than the 10 days Trump has left.
“Well I like the 25th Amendment because it gets rid of him. He’s out of office. But there’s strong support in the Congress for impeaching the president a second time,” the California Democrat told the news show in an excerpt of an interview that will air Sunday evening.
The House could vote on impeachment as soon as this week, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his chamber wouldn’t take it up until Jan. 19, the day before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated and the Trump administration ends.
The amendment would allow Pence and a majority of the Cabinet to have Trump removed because he is either unable or unfit to carry out the duties of his office.
Pence would serve in his place until Jan. 20 but he hasn’t said whether he would pursue that avenue.
In another excerpt of the interview played on Friday’s “CBS Evening News,” Pelosi blamed the president for egging on his supporters to march on the Capitol to challenge the results of the presidential election on Nov. 3.
“Sadly, the person that’s running the Executive Branch is a deranged, unhinged, dangerous president of the United States,” she said. “And we’re only a number of days until we can be protected from him. But he has done something so serious that there should be prosecution against him.”