Donald Trump and his deputy Mike Pence met on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) in the Oval Office, a senior official said, signalling a common front as Democrats press the Vice- President to have the President removed from office as unfit.
“The two had a good conversation,” the administration official said of the meeting, their first since last week’s assault on the US Capitol.
According to the official, Mr Trump has no intention of resigning his office before his term comes to an end on January 20. The official likewise indicated that Mr Pence has no intention of invoking the 25th Amendment of the US constitution to remove Mr Trump as unfit to discharge his duties — as Democrats are demanding.
Mr Trump and Mr Pence “reiterated that those who broke the law and stormed the Capitol last week do not represent the ‘America First’ movement backed by 75 million Americans,” the official said. The pair “pledged to continue the work on behalf of the country for the remainder of their term.”
The House of Representatives is to vote on Wednesday AEDT on a resolution calling for Mr Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will give him 24 hours to respond. After that, she said, Democrats would move forward with the process of impeaching Mr Trump for “incitement of insurrection” over his role in last week’s storming of the Capitol by his supporters.
Under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, the vice-president and a majority of the members of the cabinet inform the leaders of the Senate and House that the president is incapable of discharging his duties and the vice-president becomes acting president.
In an angry speech before the assault, Mr Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol and demand Mr Pence, who was leading a joint session of congress on certifying Joe Biden’s victory, must intervene to reverse his election defeat.
Mr Pence refused, and he was the one who announced to congress members Mr Trump’s loss to Mr Biden.
Some Trump supporters, furious over Mr Pence’s action, were heard chanting that he should be hanged.-AFP
