The President of the United States is supposed to lead our country with honesty, integrity, and courage, working to unite citizens across political party lines and bring people together. Over these past four years, Donald Trump has instead been a catalyst for partisan division, bigoted rhetoric, and fake news. From threatening to withhold military aid to Ukraine in exchange for dirt on Joe Biden and his son to calling violent white nationalists and Neo-Nazis in Charlottesville “very fine people,” Trump has blatantly demonstrated his disregard for the best interest of the American people. Despite the many examples of his completely unpresidential and corrupt behavior, Trump amassed a cult of blind loyalist supporters, including senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, who have ignored the truth and spewed his deceitful lies to the millions of Trump supporters across the country.

Having refused to concede to President-elect Joe Biden and accept the results of the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump has fabricated baseless claims of election and voter fraud, leading his supporters to falsely believe that the election was “stolen” from them. After spreading these lies for months and brainwashing his followers, Trump still had the support of the vast majority of the Republican party. Trump’s direct incitement of the domestic terrorists that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th was the last straw. With key Republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, jumping ship and condemning Trump for spurring these insurrectionists to attack the Capitol building, it is clear that Trump has lost many of his previously loyal supporters.

This assault on the Capitol was a direct attack on American democracy and Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and other Trump minions are largely to blame for this violent mob; they must be held accountable. In the chaos of the crazed rioters breaching the Capitol, 5 people died, including Capitol Officer Brian D. Sicknick and a number of other officers who were injured in the mob violence. Donald Trump has blood on his hands, and he must be removed from office.

Whether Vice President Mike Pence invokes the 25th Amendment or Congress moves to impeach Trump and remove him from office, it is crucial that the members of our government move swiftly to remove Trump from power for the sake of the American people.

“I definitely think the 25th Amendment should be invoked and Trump should be removed from office,” said Patriot Press Section Editor Noah Kaplan. “He is clearly not in the right headspace to lead this country any longer.”

Despite Trump’s obvious inability to perform the duties required of a President, it seems more likely that the House will impeach Trump than Pence will invoke the 25th Amendment.

“I believe Donald Trump should be removed from office immediately. There is not much more damage he could possibly do in these next two weeks, but his removal would be symbolic, showing that democracy always prevails no matter what,” stated Assistant Junior Editor Eunho Jung. “What he enabled and incited shows how much of a dangerous man he is. He should be impeached and removed as soon as possible.”

Section Editor Luke Kaplan also calls for Trump’s removal. “Even with only 2 weeks left in his term, it is certainly worth it to remove Trump from office. On Wednesday, we saw very clearly the dangerous effects Trump’s rhetoric has on his fiercely loyal base. I fear that if he is able to run again in 4 years against a different candidate he could win. He needs to be removed from office in order to prevent him from ever holding public office again. He is the prime reason for the extreme polarization in American politics, and our democracy will not survive 4 more years of division.”

Junior Editor Juliana Lee also shares the same sentiment. “Although there won’t be any time to hold a full trial, we need to reprimand him for his actions or rather inactions to prevent the attack on Wednesday. Being impeached twice would permanently ruin his reputation and hopefully bar him from ever running again.”

While the final days of Trump’s presidency are uncertain, one thing is clear: Donald J. Trump will go down as the worst President in the history of the United States.