Gov. Pritzker Urges Congress To Impeach, Remove President Trump

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called on Congress to impeach and remove President Donald Trump Wednesday after the president's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress.

"Two weeks is too long for Donald Trump to remain in office, where he can continue to incite more untold violence," Pritzker said in a statement.

A woman was fatally shot as the raucous mob of Trump loyalists forced lawmakers into secure locations and halted the counting of Electoral College votes. More than a dozen people were arrested.

“As the heart of our democracy was under siege and blood was literally being spilled in our most sacred halls, Donald Trump was praising the attackers," Pritzker said. "There are real questions about what efforts the President made to protect our Congress or what obstructions he committed that has prevented the ending of the siege."

Twitter later deleted a video and a statement from the president's account. In the video, he falsely claimed to have won last year's election in a landslide and affectionately requested his supporters leave Congress.

"You have to go home now, we have to have peace," Trump said in the video. "We don't want anybody hurt. It's a very tough period of time. There's never been a period of time when such a thing happened." he added. "But we can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You're very special."

After a subsequent tweet praising the rioters, Twitter locked the president's account for 12 hours: "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long," he said. "Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!"

Related:
Trump Mob Breaches Capitol; 1 Killed In Melee; Biden Decries Riot
Pro-Trump Protests In Springfield, Chicago Amid 'Chaos' In D.C.
Illinois Lawmakers Condemn Trump For 'Coup Attempt' At U.S. Capitol

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Pritzker has repeatedly called for Trump's impeachment, beginning less than four months after the president was inaugurated. He initially cited reports that Trump obstructed justice during investigations of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. He repeated the call for impeachment following the release of the the Mueller report into Russian election interference.

The U.S. House of Representatives impeached Trump on Dec. 18, 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over allegations the president withheld military aid to Ukraine in an effort to gain political advantage over President-Elect Joe Biden, then a potential election opponent.

Trump was acquitted in the senate by a vote of 52-48 on the first count and 53-47 on the second one, with only Utah Sen. Mitt Romney voting to remove Trump from office.

Pritzker's statement issued Wednesday followed social media post from U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) saying she was drawing up new articles of impeachment against Trump.

Other Democratic lawmakers and the head of the National Association of Manufacturers also called for the removal of Trump following the breach at the Capitol. Among them, U.S. Rep. Charlie Christ (D-Florida) called for the invocation of the 25th Amendment, which would allow Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of the president's cabinet to remove Trump from office.

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Pritzker said the unrest had forced him to redirect law enforcement resources to the state Capitol in Springfield and other government buildings at a time when state resources should be devoted to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The governor described Trump's attempts to overturn the results of last year's election as criminal.

“There is no doubt in my mind that his efforts to encourage a coup represent high treason to this democracy, our Constitution and all Americans. He poses a danger to our nation. He must be impeached and removed from office immediately. And every person in a position of public trust, elected or otherwise, who enabled the systematic dismantling of our democratic norms and failed to speak up or take action bears some responsibility for the culmination of four years of spreading bile," he said.

“This violence is the natural conclusion of Donald Trump’s efforts to unleash the forces of hate and divide our nation. It must end.”