Donald Trump Alleges Nancy Pelosi Is Setting The Stage To Replace Joe Biden With Kamala Harris
In a tweet published on Friday, President Donald Trump alleged that Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is working to appoint California Sen. Kamala Harris President of the United States.
Trump seemed to suggest that Pelosi and other Democrats will replace their nominee, Joe Biden, with Harris if Biden wins the presidency.
“Crazy Nancy Pelosi is looking at the 25th Amendment in order to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris,” he wrote. “The Dems want that to happen fast because Sleepy Joe is out of it!!!”
Trump published the tweet shortly after House Democrats unveiled legislation to create a special commission that would determine whether a commander-in-chief is fit to serve.
As The Hill reported, the bill would establish the Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office. The panel would consist of 17 figures, including eight former executive officials, vice presidents, heads of the state, justice, defense and treasury departments. It would also feature former surgeon generals, four psychiatrists and four physicians. Of the 17 members, 16 would be chosen by bipartisan leaders of both chambers of Congress. A seventeenth would be appointed by the other 16 members.
The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and it invokes the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which allows Congress to replace a commander-in-chief with his vice president if he is found to be “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
The bill was seen as a thinly-veiled shot at Trump, viewed in the context of Pelosi’s recent statements. In recent days, Pelosi has repeatedly suggested that the drugs Trump has been given after being infected with the novel coronavirus are impacting his mental state and decision-making.
Still, on Friday, Pelosi said that the initiative is not about Trump, who “will face the judgment of the voters.”
“But he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents,” she argued.
Republicans have dismissed the legislation as political theatre meant to send a message ahead of the November election.
Notably, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell described it as “absurd.”
“Again, right here in this last three weeks before the election, I think those kinds of wild comments should be largely discounted,” he said in a statement.
Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee accused Pelosi of trying to orchestrate a coup.
“She has already weaponized impeachment, what’s to keep her from weaponizing the 25th amendment?” he asked in a tweet.
As The Hill noted, the bill is all but guaranteed to “fuel” GOP allegations that Biden is suffering from cognitive decline, that he is incapable of running a country, and that Harris would take over as soon as he got elected.
Trump made a similar claim in an interview on Thursday, slamming Harris as a “monster.”
