Robert Reich: Time To Consider Removing Trump From Office
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich is calling for serious consideration to removing Donald Trump from office.
Reich, who is currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said DonaldTrump is “losing his mind” in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
Mr. Reich is suggesting the use of the 25th Amendment as the vehicle for removing Trump from office.
“This is why it is now time to seriously consider the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which provides for removal of a president who is ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,'” Reich wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
Reich served as Labor Secretary under President Bill Clinton and has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump.
Trump is becoming “more isolated” and “more humiliated” Reich noted.
“We know from Trump’s history that whenever he’s cornered he also becomes more aggressive. The further he falls, the more fragile his ego becomes, and the greater is the danger that he will do something desperate,” he wrote.
Reich has previously called for the impeachment of Trump and laid out his case for why Trump should be removed.
Here is Robert Reich’s full statement:
I fear the man is losing his mind. Today Trump attacked Democrats (whom he called “OBSTRUCTIONISTS!”), the mayor of London (whom he derided as “pathetic”), and the judicial system (which he termed “slow and political!”).
He even attacked his own Department of Justice – for, in his words, submitting a “watered down, politically correct” version of his executive order to the Supreme Court. He thereby undermined his own lawyers, who have been trying the make the legal case that Trump’s ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries is not a “travel ban.” Today Trump tweeted: “I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN!”
How did Trump react to all the chaos he created today? By canceling without warning or notice a scheduled briefing with reporters where he was expected to answer questions.
We know he’s a sociopath, but he seems to be growing worse. CNN’s Gloria Borger last week quoted a Trump confidant: “He now lives within himself, which is a dangerous place for Donald Trump to be. I see him emotionally withdrawing. He’s gained weight. He doesn’t have anybody whom he trusts.”
Rick Tyler, a veteran Republican consultant, said Trump’s refusal to stop using Twitter poses a serious obstacle for the White House.“I can’t imagine internally they’re happy with his performance,” Tyler said. “The president is undermining his presidency whenever his staff says one thing and then he does another. They’ll say something you’d expect, and then he’ll go off and bring in the gun debate to a terror attack.”
Is it because the FBI investigation is homing in on him? Or because his most trusted adviser, Jared Kushner, is about the be indicted? Or because his approval ratings continue to drop?
Whatever the cause, as Trump becomes more isolated, he becomes more paranoid – more fearful of becoming weak and humiliated. We know from Trump’s history that whenever he’s cornered he also becomes more aggressive. The further he falls, the more fragile his ego becomes, and the greater is the danger that he will do something desperate. As the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank says, there is much that a desperate commander in chief can do.
This is why it is now time to seriously consider the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which provides for removal of a president who is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” The determination is to be made by the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments – that is, the Cabinet — or of such other body as Congress may by law provide.
It is coming to that.
What do you think?
