Politics updates: Majority wants Trump removed; Kellyanne Conway says ‘don’t excuse’ Capitol riot

If the House succeeds in impeaching President Donald Trump, he would become the first president to be impeached twice. USA TODAY

Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” TV show Sunday that he doesn’t currently know “what’s going on inside the Oval Office now” and “inside the president’s head” following riots this week in Washington, D.C.

Mulvaney announced his resignation Thursday as President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Northern Ireland after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday. Mulvaney was Trump’s former acting chief of staff.

Mulvaney said Sunday that “people took (Trump) literally” when he encouraged his supporters to “stop the steal” and to go to the U.S. Capitol building to express their dissatisfaction with the outcome of November’s presidential election, won by Joe Biden.

“I never thought I’d see that,” Mulvaney said.

He said the ensuing riot was a “fundamental threat to the United States” and recounted an episode during Trump’s impeachment hearing last year in which he told the president, who was accused of witness tampering: “‘Mr. President, this is a problem & we need to fix it.’ He pushed back a little bit but then he … he pivoted.”

In a separate interview on Fox News, Mulvaney appeared to defend the administration’s handling of earlier controversies that have engulfed Trump’s White House.

“I think everybody recognizes that what happened on Wednesday is different,” Mulvaney told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace. He said previous controversies “were policy differences, many of them were stylistic.

“Wednesday was existential,” he said. 

Mulvaney dodged a question on whether he supported the use of the 25th Amendment, used to get rid of an incapacitated or unfit president, to remove Trump from office.

“I think the 25th Amendment (is) a clumsy tool. We’ve never used it under these circumstances. We typically use it whenever a president goes through a medical procedure,” he said. 

– Kim Hjelmgaard 

Poll: Majority wants Trump removed from office before inauguration 

A majority of Americans now believe President Donald Trump should be removed from office before his term ends on Jan. 20, when President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in.

A new poll published Sunday by ABC News/Ipsos found that 56% of those surveyed want Trump to be removed before Inauguration Day. A higher figure – 67% – blame the commander-in-chief for the riots in Washington this week that left 5 people dead after a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building, overpowering police and ransacking the complex.

The chaotic incident followed Trump’s “Save America Rally” in Washington, during which he told his supporters to “stop the steal” of the election he lost to Biden. Trump urged them to head to the Capitol to demonstrate against Congress certifying Biden’s victory.

House Democrats are preparing Monday to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump in connection with the riot. They accuse him of having “gravely endangered the security” of the U.S. and its institutions. It will be Trump’s second impeachment.

The ABC News/Ipsos poll found that most Democrats (94%) and a majority of independents (58%) believe Trump should be removed from office; only 13% of Republicans agree. In fact, 61% of Republicans believe Trump did nothing wrong.

– Kim Hjelmgaard

Kellyanne Conway condemns armed riot at US Capitol

Former Senior White House Assistant Kellyanne Conway condemned the armed invasion of the US Capitol on Wednesday by pro-Trump rioters.

“Don’t avert your eyes & don’t excuse this,” Conway said on Twitter of a report compiling haunting footage of the attacks. “The more we see & learn, the worse it is.”

“The events were outrageous and inexcusable. Democracy relies on dissent, not destruction. In this nation, differences of opinions are resolved by showing up at the ballot box, not by storming the barricade,” Conway said in a statement Thursday.

Conway managed President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and was a senior White House adviser when Trump took office, sticking by the president through almost the entire tumult of his first term. Conway left the Trump administration in August 2020 after a public feud with her daughter in the media.

The former aide’s comments come as the Trump administration is roiling in its last days in office. Former and current aides have expressed worry about their involvement in the administration, while others have also condemned the Capitol attack or resigned from their posts.

Conway has continued to express support for the president, despite the Capitol attack.

“The thugs from yesterday are responsible for their own actions,” Conway said. “They don’t represent the millions of Trump voters, or the massive ‘MAGA’ movement; they insult them.”

– Matthew Brown

Pence to attend Biden’s inauguration

Vice President Mike Pence will attend the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, even as President Donald Trump intends to skip it.

The decision came a day after Trump announced he would decline to watch his successor sworn-in, breaking with more than 150 years of tradition. A source familiar with the decision speaking on the condition of anonymity confirmed Pence’s expected attendance.

Pence is facing considerable blowback from some Trump supporters – and significant praise from others – for defying the president’s demand that he somehow reject the results of the election as Congress met Wednesday to count Electoral College votes and formalized Biden’s win. Despite Trump’s protestations, Pence noted he had no power to reject the votes.

Biden dismissed Trump’s decision not to attend the inauguration, telling reporters on Friday that it was “one of the few things he and I ever agreed on.” But of Pence, Biden said that he was “welcome to come” and that he’d “be honored to have him there.”

– John Fritze 

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