Dems meet in private to discuss if Biden should bow outDemocrats on Capitol Hill met privately Tuesday at a crucial moment for President Joe Biden and their party, with tensions running high over the extraordinary question of whether to keep up support or urge him to step aside in light of health concerns. More details... |
Rep. Bob Good (R-Virginia) argues President Biden should be removed from office because it’s what’s best for the country – but the conservative lawmaker just isn't sure the country’s needs will be considered by Democrats.
Good backed fellow Republican Chip Roy of Texas who in late June filed a resolution calling on Vice President Kamala Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment. If she’ll do it that would most likely set in motion the removal of Biden from office. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has also been a vocal supporter of using this constitutional provision to remove a sitting president.
For the good of the country, that sitting president needs to go … now, says Good.
“It’s clear to every honest, objective person that Joe Biden is incapable of effectively executing the duties of his office. This puts the country at risk today, let alone Nov. 5, let alone next year if he were to be reelected. He clearly is incapable today,” he said on American Family Radio Monday.
Good lost a primary race in June to Donald Trump-backed former Navy Seal John McGuire. The margin numbered in the lower hundreds, and Good said on election night that he would file for a recount.
“The formal recount will be filed this week. The deadline is Friday. We're still in the information gathering investigative phase of preparing our case,” Good told show host Jenna Ellis.
Congress returned to work on Monday, and Good’s focus is on spending bills still to be crafted by the House … and on the cognitive abilities of the current chief executive.
The 25th Amendment states the vice president and a majority of the principal officers of the executive departments – or such other body as Congress may by law provide – can submit their written declaration to the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House their assessment that the president is unable to execute the power and duties of the office. The vice president at that point becomes acting president.
“Chip Roy and Mike Lee are right to call for that. I think public pressure and saying what we all know to be true is appropriate,” Good said.
WWDD: What will Democrats do?
Sadly, true and appropriate doesn’t always win the day, according to the Virginia Republican.
“I doubt that Democrats will respond principally to that. I think what they're trying to do is kind of hold on and ride this horse out for the remaining six months of this presidency and try to figure out what can they do to win [in November],” Good postulated.
CNN speculates that Democrats are warming up to the idea of Kamala Harris at the top of their ticket.
“I think Kamala Harris is their only option just for the complexities of trying to move the money from their campaign to another campaign with the political challenge of them ditching her as the nominee. Plus, all the delegates are pledged to Biden-Harris. So, I think their options are Biden or Harris, neither which are good on Nov. 5,” Good said.
Political scientist Dr. David Cohen said as much during a Fox News interview on Monday. "I don't think it's realistic to think that there's anybody else [besides Harris] who could take Biden's place as the nominee," he stated.
Harris 'widely loved' by Dems?
In a separate interview with American Family News, Ellis commented that "unfortunately [Harris] is a fairly strong candidate" for the Democrats and a "formidable" opponent for Donald Trump.
"She is actually widely loved in the Democrat Party in a lot of circles, which I know to conservatives is shocking," she acknowledged, "because we don't certainly hold her in very high esteem and looking at how she has governed when she was a prosecutor in California or her Senate record and then how she has acted in her office as vice president."
For that reason, Ellis says the Trump campaign should pull for Biden to remain in the race.
"I think that anyone other than Joe Biden would have a very good chance of winning only because there are so many moderates, independents, and disaffected Republicans who genuinely do not like Donald Trump," she points out. "I know there's a lot of people who absolutely love him, but there are a lot of people who absolutely hate him – and that is a concern for the Republican Party. And I think the Democrats are likely taking that into account."
Other ‘body’ scenario unlikely
The Constitution clearly states that another “body” could declare Biden unfit to carry on should Vice President Harris find the move distasteful. However, Good calls that scenario “highly unlikely.”
“I don't think Democrats are going to be willing to remove the president. I don't think the Cabinet is or the vice president. I don't think congressional members would support that,” Good said. “We are left with either the vice president and the Cabinet taking action; or this president staying in office, unless he becomes physically unable between now and [Inauguration Day on] January 20.”
Editor's note: Story updated with comments from radio show host Jenna Ellis.
