CNN contributor Joe Lockhart argued that the United States is in “25th Amendment territory” on the network Monday morning.
Lockhart, a press secretary under President Bill Clinton, explained that the Trump administration should try to remove him from office under the 25th Amendment.
“By and large, the Republicans, you know, who are afraid of Trump and the power he wields over the Republican base right now have let him get away with it. So the message to Trump is, I can keep doing this. I pay no penalty for this. I don’t care if people come on CNN and criticize me because Fox News will back me up,” Lockhart began.
“There’s somebody that has to eventually step up,” he continued. “I don’t predict they will. But I would say that if this were any other presidency, and if you think about this in context, this would be like if Jeffrey Epstein was killed and President Obama blamed President Bush for killing him. You know, the world would explode, but now it’s just Trump. I think someone in the Cabinet has to get together because we are in 25th Amendment territory.”
The 25th Amendment discusses presidential succession. Section 4 of the amendment addresses a situation in which the president is unable to fulfill their duties but are not willing to step aside. If the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet agree that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” and it would result in the vice president assuming the presidency.
