Manufacturers back 25th Amendment push to remove Trump from office

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Removing Trump by 25th Amendment could set 'very dangerous' standard: Turley

Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley tells 'Fox & Friends' invoking the 25th Amendment could easily be abused.

The National Association of Manufacturers on Wednesday condemned the rioting that took place in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and called on Vice President Mike Pence to consider invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office.

Pro-Trump protesters on Wednesday gathered in large numbers in Washington, D.C., for a "Stop the Steal" rally, where the president repeated unproven claims that the 2020 election was stolen shortly before protesters breached the Capitol building while Congress was debating whether to count Arizona's Electoral College votes.

The president later released a video statement on Twitter in which he expressed "love" for protesters and told them to "go home in peace."

TRUMP TELLS PROTESTERS TO 'GO HOME,' MAINTAINING THAT THE ELECTION WAS 'STOLEN' AMID VIOLENCE AT THE CAPITOL

"Armed violent protestors who support the baseless claim by outgoing president Trump that he somehow won an election that he overwhelmingly lost have stormed the U.S. Capitol today, attacking police officers and first responders, because Trump refused to accept defeat in a free and fair election," NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said in a statement.

Timmons continued: "The outgoing president incited violence in an attempt to retain power, and any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favor of anarchy. Anyone indulging conspiracy theories to raise campaign dollars is complicit."

He added that the vice president "should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy."

GOP POLITICIANS CONDEMN VIOLENCE AT CAPITOL, CALL FOR AN END TO

The 25th Amendment allows the vice president and a majority of the cabinet to sideline a president deemed unable to perform his duties, a provision typically reserved for extreme health emergencies. The president can resume his duties when he deems himself fit, unless overridden by a two-thirds majority of Congress.

"Across America today, millions of manufacturing workers are helping our nation fight the deadly pandemic that has already taken hundreds of thousands of lives," Timmons said. "But none of that will matter if our leaders refuse to fend off this attack on America and our democracy—because our very system of government, which underpins our very way of life, will crumble."

President Trump speaks at a rally Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Timmons is one of many people, including a number of lawmakers, who have called on Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment.

Most recently, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on Congress to immediately remove the president from office in a Thursday statement.

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"What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer," Schumer said. "The quickest and most effective way - it can be done today - to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment."

Other members of Congress including Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. and Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Jennifer Wexton, D-Va.; and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., also called for Trump's removal. Celebrities, too, joined the call for Trump to be impeached on social media.