Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) on Tuesday said he filed impeachment articles against President Trump for the war in Iran citing his recent social media post promising to erase a “whole civilization” if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened immediately.
Trump paused the strikes for two weeks Tuesday evening after Pakistan intervened and asked for an extended deadline.
“Donald Trump has blown past every requirement to be removed from office. And it’s getting worse. His illegal war in Iran is not only driving up prices for American families — it has cost American lives,” Larson, who’s in his 14th term, said in a statement.
“He’s becoming more unstable by the day. His profane and sacrilegious Easter Sunday and subsequent threats, including ‘a whole civilization will die’ and ‘open the Strait … or you’ll be living in hell’ not only foreshadow war crimes, but put our security at risk,” he added.
A total of 70 Democrats including Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Yaasmin Ansari (D-Ariz.) said Trump’s Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment, which would spark an involuntary transfer of power from the president to the vice president due to an inability to serve.
Members of Trump’s Cabinet have backed the strikes and maintain that the White House war objective is to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, longtime Trump supporters including Alex Jones, Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson said the president’s Sunday post threatening to bomb Iran’s civilian infrastructure went too far.
Others brushed aside concerns about the threat of strikes.
“We’re talking about taking decisive action against Iran’s energy and civilian infrastructure. That is what the president is talking about,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told “CNN News Central.” “He’s not talking about obliterating innocent people.”
Still, Larson said the president’s remarks signal an inability to serve.
“People across my district know he is unfit to lead and are calling for impeachment. While Republicans in the majority have so far failed to uphold their constitutional responsibility to initiate impeachment proceedings, that does not absolve others of their duty. Members of the Cabinet and those closest to the President can act immediately,” Larson said.
“They have an obligation to put patriotism over politics and invoke the 25th Amendment. Donald Trump is unable or unwilling to faithfully execute the responsibilities of the office and he is putting the nation’s security and economy in jeopardy,” he added.
