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‘Gross, shameful anti-democratic’: Archbishop of Wales backs calls for Donald Trump to be impeached

by Tola Mbakwe

The Archbishop of Wales has joined calls for President Donald Trump to be impeached.

Although Mr Trump only has less than two weeks in office, Most Rev John Davies has urged the US to seriously consider invoking the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to remove him from power.

He said in a statement: “For a number of years, the President of the United States has shown himself and has been shown by others to be a person of questionable morals, judgement and wisdom. He has been given to inflammatory rhetoric and intemperate, prejudicial public statements.”

Archbishop John’s statement comes as the US comes to terms with the violent siege of the US Capitol by Trump supporters that left five dead.

“Now, in recent days, he has shown himself to be possessed of a shameful self-image which, he evidently believes, permits him to ignore the democratic processes of his country and the democratically expressed will of its people,” he added. 

“It is with such a mindset and self-image that he chose… to incite others to engage in behaviour which has resulted in mayhem, injury and death at the Capitol. His country and its people deserved and deserve better.”

“Even though the Trump presidency is in its dying days, and despite the fact that one nation should not seek to interfere in the processes of another, I would hope that those in a position to do so would seriously consider invoking the 25th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and end it immediately. This would be no empty gesture, because no politician has a right to determine that they are unaccountable for their behaviour.  When such behaviour is so gross, obvious and anti-democratic, it should not be allowed to pass.”

The Democrats are considering lightning-quick action. A draft of their Articles of Impeachment accuses Mr Trump of abuse of power, saying he "willfully made statements that encouraged - and foreseeably resulted in - imminent lawless action at the Capitol", according to a person familiar with the details who was granted anonymity to discuss them.

The articles are expected to be introduced on Monday, with a House vote as soon as Wednesday.

If Mr Trump were to be impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate, he might also be prevented from running again for the presidency in 2024 or ever holding public office again.

He would be only the president twice impeached. A person on the call said Ms Pelosi also discussed other ways Mr Trump might be forced to resign.

Senators from a bipartisan group convened their own call to consider options for congressional action, although Trump spokesman Judd Deere said: "A politically motivated impeachment against a President with 12 days remaining in his term will only serve to further divide our great country."

After an initial 12-hour Twitter ban expired, Mr Trump was tweeting again on Friday. But having posted a calm video on Thursday decrying the violence, he reverted to an aggressive statement that his supporters must not be "disrespected". In the evening, Twitter said it was permanently suspending him from its platform, citing "risk of further incitement of violence".

The soonest the Senate could begin an impeachment trial under the current calendar would be 20th January, Inauguration Day.

Conviction in the Republican Senate at this late date would seem unlikely, though in a sign of Mr Trump's shattering of the party, many Republicans were silent on the issue.

One Trump ally, Republican Minority Leader Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, did speak up, also saying that impeaching the president at this late stage "will only divide our country more".

Mr McCarthy said he planned to speak with Mr Biden about working together to "lower the temperature".

Ms Murkowski said: "I want him out. He has caused enough damage."

Another leading Republican critic of Mr Trump, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, said he would "definitely consider" impeachment.

Independent senator Bernie Sanders tweeted that some people ask, why impeach a president who has only a few days left in office?

"The answer: Precedent. It must be made clear that no president, now or in the future, can lead an insurrection against the U.S. government," Mr Sanders said.

House Speaker Pelosi and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer have called on vice president Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to force Trump from office but that appears unlikely.

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