Queens Lawmakers Demand President Trump’s Removal From Office

Donald J. Trump Photo: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division

Jan. 7, 2021 By Allie Griffin

Multiple Queens and New York lawmakers are demanding President Donald Trump be removed from office saying that he incited an angry mob of supporters to storm the Capitol building Wednesday.

The call is being led by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who is poised to become the Senate Majority Leader.

Schumer said Vice President Mike Pence must invoke the 25th amendment and take over as president of the U.S.

“What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by President Trump. This president must not hold office one day longer,” Schumer said in a statement. “The quickest and most effective way—it can be done today—to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th amendment.”

If that fails, the senator said Congress should once again impeach Trump and then remove him from office.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said he “couldn’t agree more” with Sen. Schumer at his daily press briefing this morning.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York (Twitter)

“Just think about the idea [that] the president urged people to do violence,” de Blasio said. “That is sedition; that’s treason. He shouldn’t be president anymore.”

Federal lawmakers representing Queens — who were at the Capitol building at the time of the attempted coup — also say Trump should be ousted from the White House.

“The President incited an attack on Congress. He is deeply unstable,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said. “The Cabinet must invoke the 25th amendment. Congress must also pursue impeachment and removal of the President.”

Rep. Grace Meng — who posted photos of her DIY barricade as she sheltered during the riot — echoed their statements.

“President Trump is a danger to our democracy and nation. He incited yesterday’s chaos, violence, and destruction at the U.S. Capitol,” she said in a statement. “His removal must be immediate and swift.”

Meng said Pence must invoke the 25th Amendment “to protect our democracy from further strain.” If he doesn’t, she agreed that Congress must impeach and remove Trump.

Her colleague, Rep. Gregory Meeks, pointed to Twitter’s decision to ban the president from the platform for 12 hours following the violence at the Capitol.

“If Trump can’t be trusted with Twitter, he shouldn’t be trusted with the power of the Oval Office, even with what little time he has remaining at 1600,” Meeks said, referring to the address number of the White House. “One way or another, he must step down or be removed.”

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, whose district includes parts of Queens, also issued a statement demanding Trump’s removal.

“One thing is very clear: Trump must be removed from office either via the 25th Amendment or impeachment,” she said. “Invoking the 25th Amendment is the quickest way to do this, and expedience must be our goal.”

Maloney said Trump is “clearly unfit and cannot be trusted to carry out his duties and peacefully transfer power to the next President.”

Several elected officials from state and local offices also demanded Trump be removed of his duties as president.

“The President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, must be removed from office immediately in order to protect the people of the United States,” Queens Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi said. “The peoples’ house was attacked yesterday by domestic enemies of our country.”

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said Trump should be removed from office immediately.

“Forget 13 days. After yesterday’s deadly domestic terror attack he incited — following four years of disastrous leadership — this “president” doesn’t deserve to stay in office for 13 more seconds,” Richards wrote on Twitter.