UCLA Expert Weighs In On Removing Trump With 25th Amendment
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - With only two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden is expected to be sworn into office, some politicians are calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, a process that would remove President Donald Trump from office, saying the president is "detached from reality."
The demand comes after a mob of Trump supporters overran the U.S. Capitol building Wednesday and sent members of Congress fleeing during the Electoral College vote ratification.
Other lawmakers said they are drafting articles of impeachment.
"Congress is not going to impeach the president and run a trial in 14 days, it won't happen," said Zev Yaroslavsky, a government, and political expert at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Luskin School of Public Affairs.
He added impeachment is nothing more than a "publicity stunt."
"If Trump is as unstable as he appears to be, then Congress knows what stands between a disaster and January 20, and that is the 25th amendment," he said.
Earlier in the day, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Los Angeles, was one of several members of the Southland congressional delegation who found themselves barricaded on Capitol Hill Monday as supporters of the president stormed the Capitol.
"This assault on our nation's Capitol is a coup attempt and all those involved should be prosecuted as such," Lieu said.
Across the United States, pro-Trump rallies were held. Beverly Hills held a protest of about 100 people.
In downtown Los Angeles, six people were arrested after fights broke out during a large demonstration.