President Donald Trump and prominent Republicans fired back at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Thursday afternoon after the Speaker suggested that she and Democrats will hold “discussions” Friday about the 25th Amendment, presumably to talk over how to potentially remove the president from office.
Retweeting a supporter who suggested that Democrats were “already plotting” to “get Trump out” if the president wins re-election in November, Trump added that “Crazy Nancy” should be evaluated for her own mental fitness.
“Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation. They don’t call her Crazy for nothing!” he tweeted.
Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation. They don’t call her Crazy for nothing! https://t.co/7vE0Jvq0dM
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2020
Pelosi announced her “event” at her weekly press conference Thursday morning, telling reporters that, “[t]omorrow, by the way, tomorrow, come here tomorrow. We’re going to be talking about the 25th Amendment. But not to take attention away from the subject we have now.”
Later on Thursday, The Hill reports, Pelosi said that she and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) were planning a commission “to determine whether a president is fit for office.”
“Raskin originally introduced legislation in 2017 — which did not get any legislative action since Republicans controlled the House at the time — that would create an Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity comprised of physicians, psychiatrists and retired public officials like former presidents and Cabinet secretaries,” The Hill added. “Congressional leaders would be responsible for naming members of the commission.”
The plan also includes some proposed legislation.
“I’ve got my 25th Amendment legislation from the last Congress, H.R. 1987, which I’m going to be dusting off and reintroducing,” Raskin told The Hill.
On Wednesday, Pelosi suggested that Trump’s faculties might be compromised, either by the novel coronavirus, which Trump was diagnosed with last week or because of dexamethasone, a corticosteroid Trump’s doctors prescribed to help with recovery. Internet sleuths, who discovered a list of dexamethasone side effects, have, since last week, insisted that Trump could be suffering from delusions.
Pelosi has an uphill battle. According to the 25th Amendment itself, which governs succession if and when the president is no longer capable of discharging his duties, the vice president and either a majority of Cabinet members or a majority of both houses of Congress must agree to depose the president before any action can be taken to replace him.
Prominent Republicans also seem reticent to get on board with Pelosi’s plan. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) even went so far as to accuse Pelosi of orchestrating a “coup.”
“I wouldn’t put it past @SpeakerPelosi to stage a coup,” Green tweeted. “She has already weaponized impeachment, what’s to keep her from weaponizing the 25th amendment? We need a new Speaker!”
Arizona’s Rep. Andy Briggs added that “Congressional Democrats have not stopped their quest to remove President @realDonaldTrump from office since the day he was sworn into office, working night and day to overturn the will of Americans. Here is another installment of their pathetic series.”
Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia suggested that Republicans would take immediate action. “@SpeakerPelosi will stop at NOTHING to take down @realDonaldTrump. First it was the Russia hoax, then sham impeachment. Now she’s trying to invoke the 25th amendment because he… fully recovered from the coronavirus? We won’t let her get away with it.”