Following his expletive-filled message to Iran on Easter Sunday, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, told MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell that it’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove President Donald Trump from office. She said those who refuse to act will be seen as “complicit” in his actions.
While Pingree said she was in a “deep state of shock” after seeing Trump’s social media post, she also told O’Donnell that kind of rhetoric is something many have come to expect from the president.
“What’s the surprise? This is what this man does every day,” she continued. “He frightens us, and he shows that he’s not competent to be the president.”
The Democrat urged those close to the president to speak up about his rash behavior, which she said was especially dangerous in a time of war.
Echoing a message from former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who left Congress earlier this year due to her clashes with the administration, Pingree said those who choose to do nothing make themselves “complicit.”
“The Cabinet is complicit,” she said. “If they don’t do something about this, they’re around him every day … Members of the military need to speak up. Certainly, Congress has to speak up and fight back.”
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As Pingree explained, Democrats have tried to use their congressional powers to hold Trump accountable, including introducing impeachment articles, which she said were “immediately tabled by the Republicans.”
“It makes them complicit, too,” she added.
The Maine Democrat said Americans are aware of Trump’s “unhinged” behavior and want their representatives to take action.
“Americans, whether you pay a lot of attention to politics or not, whether you’re Republican or Democrat, they have a deep sense of what’s decent, what’s normal, what should be allowable in our culture, and you know how a president should act,” she said. “Even though we’ve been normalizing some of these things by the behavior continuing, I just find more and more people are frightened, they’re angry, and they want to know when it’s going to end.”
You can watch Pingree’s full interview in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”