Bernie Sanders Says Trump 'Directly Responsible' for Insurrection Effort

Amid urgent calls for President Donald Trump's immediate arrest, removal from office under the 25th Amendment, and impeachment following Wednesday's violent storming of the U.S. Capitol building by a right-wing mob intent on interrupting the certification by Congress of the 2020 election results, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont charged that the president remains "directly responsible" for the day of chaos.

Sanders accused Trump of making it clear "he will do anything to remain in power—including insurrection and inciting violence."

The senator further predicted that Trump "will go down in history as the worst and most dangerous president in history."

The man directly responsible for the chaos of today is Donald Trump, who has made it clear that he will do anything to remain in power – including insurrection and inciting violence. Trump will go down in history as the worst and most dangerous president in history. — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 6, 2021

Sanders was far from alone in his expression of outrage and pointing a finger of blame for the day's mayhem—which included one person being shot to death just outside the floor of the U.S. Senate—squarely at Trump.

"Today," said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, "Donald Trump incited a riot, an insurrection designed to advance his hapless coup attempt and erode confidence in our democratic process."

The president, added Weissman, "has conclusively demonstrated his unfitness for office. He cannot be permitted to remain in office even for two more weeks; the risks of more deranged action are simply too high."

Bonnie Castillo, executive director of National Nurses United, said: "This was a violent attempt to stop Congress from confirming the people's choice for president and vice president. As such, it's an attack on democracy itself, instigated by the president of the United States."

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Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate. We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath. — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 6, 2021

Writing in The Nation, John Nichols echoed the call for Trump—whose behavior he characterized "as too high a crime to ignore"—to be impeached immediately. According to Nichols:

The harm that this president has done cannot be forgiven or forgotten. And the threat that he will do additional harm cannot be neglected. The Constitution of the United States is clear. It says, "The president, vice president and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

Inciting insurrection that borders on insurrection is treasonous. It is a high crime. And no honest observer can deny the truth of former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson statement to MSNBC that Donald Trump "lit the match."

The U.S. president, echoed Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass) in a tweet, "is responsible for today's coup at the Capitol and the attack on our government and democracy. He is a direct threat to our country. He needs to be impeached, removed from office, and barred from ever holding office again."