Prairie State Wire

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois) was the first GOP member of Congress to call for utilizing the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office. 

The call by Kinzinger came a day after the storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the 2020 election results. The attack left five dead and many injured; a growing number of politicians have attributed the mayhem to Trump’s increasingly divisive rhetoric surrounding the election, which has been certified multiple times on state and national levels. 

In his call for the 25th Amendment, Kinzinger said “Here’s the truth. The president caused this. The president is unfit and the president is unwell. And the president now must relinquish control of the executive branch, voluntarily or involuntarily.”  

The 25th Amendment requires the vice president and a majority of the president's cabinet to vote to replace the sitting president with the vice president. 

The decision by Kinzinger has led to a mixed reaction from his constituents. 

Jeffrey Carter, an angel investor and author of the blog Points and Figures, does not agree with Kinzinger’s statements. 

“Mr. Kinzinger is entitled to his opinion and certainly the last month of Trump’s presidency was not his finest hour," Carter said. "But, he is wrong on impeachment. If so, then VP Kamala Harris never should be allowed to assume the office of vice president based on her statements this summer.”  

Carter is referring to Vice President Harris’ responses to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests that occurred across the nation in response to the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, among others. BLM protests resulted in property damage in many cities, including a police precinct in Minneapolis, Minnesota and a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon. 

Carter does not discount the violence at the Capitol by any means.

“(It was) horrible that violent protestors entered the Capitol and horrible the police were not out in force like they were in the summer," he added. "The protest was known. Trump did not make the greatest speech either.” 

Trump’s speeches on the day of the attack have been condemned by opponents for inciting violence, as he called on his supporters to march to the Capitol and he continued to push claims of election fraud. In regards to the BLM protests and the Capitol riot, Carter wished for “accountability for both."

"BLM and ANTIFA have burned cities down all over the country and destroyed the economies," he said. "See Michigan Avenue. Violent protests – no matter who – should be condemned.”