by “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Those are the words of the President of the United States, delivered Wednesday on the Ellipse, as he asked his followers to overthrow our democracy. In response to his call, and stoked by the conspiracy theories he’s peddled for years, his supporters marched down the street like a rebel army and stormed the United States Capitol.
As I write this, I am sheltering in the Capitol Complex with the rest of Congress. We were rushed here by the Capitol Police from our offices and the House floor as these terrorists stormed the building and started weaving through the corridors.
When I snapped a photo of a group of Republicans in our crowded room proudly refusing to wear masks, a freshman Trump acolyte, Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, ran over and started screaming in my face. Apparently, she didn’t want her hypocrisy on public display, even though earlier today she had no qualms rallying protesters by invoking Hitler: “Hitler was right on one thing. He said, ‘Whoever has the youth has the future.'” (According to NBC News, “Miller did not immediately respond to requests for comment surrounding the remarks.”)
I expected violent assault on democracy as a US Marine in Iraq. I never imagined it as a United States congressman in America. We’re sheltering together not because of a foreign terrorist attack, but because of a domestic coup attempt spurred on by rhetoric like that from the President and his supporters — like Rep. Miller. Make no mistake: They are enemies of America.
This is no protest. This is anarchy. It’s domestic terrorism. The people who are in the building right now are traitors to our nation. By inciting this violence and fomenting a physical attack on one of the three branches of government as it attempted to carry out its constitutional duty to certify an election, the President has violated his oath of office.
The 25th Amendment gives the vice president and the majority of the Cabinet the authority to determine whether the president is fit for duty. His words and actions today are proof that he is not. As one of my Republican colleagues just told me, “He should be relieved of command.”
It is time to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove the President from office immediately
