A leading figure in the Southern Baptist Convention has called on President Trump to resign following the deadly riots at the US Capitol last week. Russell Moore, the President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission - which functions as the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention - asked Trump to "please step down and let our country heal". 

Moore, who has been critical of Trump throughout his presidency, said that the deadly protests at the US Capitol were a "moral abomination". 

"Every single person who stormed our Capitol, and every single person who incited this insurrection, should be held accountable, immediately, to the fullest extent of the law," he tweeted. "This is a disgrace".

In another tweet, Moore said Trump had a "moral responsibility" to "call on these mobs to stop this dangerous and anti-constitutional anarchy". 

"Please do so," he added. 

Moore also insisted that Romans 13 - which instructs believers to submit to government authority - does not apply in this situation.

"Christians sometimes have different interpretation of Romans 13. There is no interpretation of Rom 13 under which this is anything other than an abomination," he wrote. "For that matter, flip open to any page of Scripture, and the same statement applies. Enough is enough." 

At the weekend, speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said she would be seeking to bring impeachment proceedings against the President. In a letter to lawmakers, Pelosi insisted that the President "represents an imminent threat" and, as such, colleagues must "act with urgency" in getting behind the calls to impeach.

“The horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified," she wrote, "and so is the immediate need for action". 

Pelosi has called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and declare Trump unfit for office. 

While there is no indication Pence will oblige, several Republican lawmakers have expressed their support for the call. Republican Senator Pat Toomey said that not only should the president resign, but that he should face "criminal liability". 

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a fellow Republican, also called for Trump to step aside. 

"There is no question in my mind that [Trump] was -- he was responsible for inciting this, this riotous mob. This was an insurrection," Hogan said. "You know, they stormed the Capitol, and threatened to kill the vice president and put the lives of people in danger. And he had a huge part, a huge role to play in that."