The former president’s latest attack on Vice President Joe Biden and the Democratic ticket leader—a proposal to “modify” the 25th Amendment that would allow for the removal of a vice president who “lies or engages in a conspiracy to cover up the incapacity of the president”—is sure to be a political dead end.
“If you do that with a cover-up of the president of the United States, it’s grounds for impeachment immediately and removal from office, because that’s what they did,” Trump said at a campaign event in Mosinee, Wisconsin.
Following Biden’s dismal showing in the June debate and subsequent decision to withdraw from the race for president, Trump and his Republican allies have leveled accusations at Vice President Kamala Harris and prominent Democrats, claiming that they are trying to conceal the president’s deteriorating mental health.
In response to Trump’s Saturday comments, the Harris campaign chose not to comment.
Last month, the vice president told HEADLINESFOREVER that she doesn’t regret stating in the weeks following the debate that Biden was mentally capable of serving another four-year term, continuing her defense of Biden and his mental capacity.
Harris responded, “Absolutely not,” in her first significant television interview following her nomination as the Democratic candidate, with HEADLINESFOREVER’s Dana Bash. “I believe the American people rightfully deserve in their president someone with his level of intelligence, dedication, judgment, and disposition.”
The proposal by Trump comes as he is still trying to figure out how the 2024 race will play out. Trump has persisted in criticizing Biden while he tries to come up with a coherent message to slow Harris’ momentum. While criticizing Biden’s performance at the State of the Union in March and their debate in June, the former president proclaimed it a “miracle” that the president won the 2020 Democratic primary during his rally on Saturday.
“Stupid, stupid people” are in charge, Trump proclaimed on Saturday. The debate with Joe was the catalyst for our discovery of that. What became of that?”
The procedure for the removal of the president, as outlined in the 25th Amendment, involves the backing of the vice president and a majority of the president’s Cabinet. Removing the vice president by force is not covered. A constitutional amendment can only be ratified with the approval of three-quarters of the states in the United States.
Just a majority vote in the House is needed to adopt the articles of impeachment and a subsequent two-thirds vote in the Senate is required for conviction; this independent process does not necessitate altering the Constitution. Despite the House’s two impeachments of Trump during his first term, the Senate did not remove him from office.
Previous demands to remove Trump from office are echoed by his request to change the 25th Amendment. Following the assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, a few members of the ex-cabinet president’s deliberated the possibility of removing him from office using the 25th Amendment.