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Delaware U.S. Senators support invoking 25th Amendment, Coons calls for GOP resignations

Calls are growing for President Trump to be removed from office after his supporters staged an armed insurrection in the U.S. Capitol. 

Lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, are calling for Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office. 

Speaking to reporters in Wilmington Thursday, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware) continued his calls for the President to resign immediately. But if that doesn’t happen, he supports Pence invoking the 25th.  

“We have a system of checks and balances that he doesn't believe in, that he’s made a mockery of. Enough already,” Carper said. “Mr. President, it’s over. You have lost. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have won.”

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) said Thursday the situation can “only be solved” by Republican leadership, the Vice President and cabinet members. But he said lawmakers should do whatever they can to make sure Trump doesn’t “further weaken or endanger” the democracy.

A spokesperson for Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Delaware) said Thursday she supports “whatever will get [Trump] out of office the fastest, be it the 25th or impeachment.”

Coons and Carper are also casting blame for Wednesday’s events on some Republican lawmakers.

Coons—who’s known for working across the aisle—said in Wilmington Thursday that Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) should resign. They were among a handful of Senators who supported baseless objections to electoral votes Wednesday, even after the Capitol siege.

Coons said they should know better. 

"Both of them clerked for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, different Chief Justices. Both of them are highly skilled and experienced and well grounded in law and constitutional principles,” Coons said. “I was struck that they would put personal political advancement ahead of the stability and safety of our democracy.”

Meanwhile, Carper stuck a positive tone about working with Republicans Thursday. He said a “much better feeling” developed while lawmakers sheltered in the Capitol — and that he hopes bonds forged during the “harrowing” experience will lead to better relationships going forward.

“I talked to some Republicans frankly I haven’t talked to at all—haven’t even met them,” Carper said. “But we had the opportunity to do that and to begin to develop some common ground.”

 

Sophia Schmidt is a Delaware native. She comes to Delaware Public Media from NPR’s Weekend Edition in Washington, DC, where she produced arts, politics, science and culture interviews. She previously wrote about education and environment for The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, MA. She graduated from Williams College, where she studied environmental policy and biology, and covered environmental events and local renewable energy for the college paper.
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