The reticence expressed by Democrats to removing President Donald Trump from office — even after he ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and attacked Iran without seeking congressional approval — quickly fell away after his latest threat to Iran.
A Tuesday morning Truth Social post on the war, which threatened “a whole civilization will die tonight” and raised the specter of nuclear war, began a chorus of calls either for Trump’s impeachment or for his removal via the invocation of the 25th Amendment.
“This is a threat of genocide and merits removal from office. The President’s mental faculties are collapsing and cannot be trusted,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., posted to X on Tuesday. “To every individual in the President’s chain of command: You have a duty to refuse illegal orders. That includes carrying out this threat.”
Trump’s ultimatum came ahead of his Tuesday night deadline for Iran to make a deal with the U.S. and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping channel for the world’s oil out of the Persian Gulf.
The chance of Trump being removed from office is low and his Cabinet members routinely publicly praise him. But dozens of congressional Democrats — and a few Republicans — condemned Trump on Tuesday. Some, like Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., called on him to be impeached.
