Rep. Buchanan stands against Trump impeachment. It won’t ‘calm the waters,’ he says
In the wake of a deadly pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol, Congressman Vern Buchanan says he doesn’t believe it would be in the nation’s best interest to remove President Donald Trump from office.
Buchanan said he stands against calls from Democrats and some fellow Republicans to impeach Trump a second time or urge Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment. Led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the House is set to consider an article of impeachment that accuses Trump of “incitement of insurrection.”
“Impeaching President Trump a week before he leaves office is not going to calm the waters or move our country forward. In fact, it will do the opposite. We need to put the 2020 election behind us and work on the challenges ahead, which include getting the COVID vaccine out to as many people as possible and reopening the economy,” Buchanan said in a prepared statement Monday morning.
“The partisan distraction of impeachment will further divide our nation. Nancy Pelosi needs to stop looking for political retribution and start thinking about what’s best for our country,” the statement continued.
Buchanan on Tuesday evening also voted against an approved resolution that asks Vice President Mike Pence invoke the 25th Amendment and convene the Cabinet to remove Trump from office. Before the vote, Pence told Pelosi he would not do that.
On impeachment, Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, took a similar position when Trump was impeached at the end of 2019. At the time, he opted to allow “voters to decide” whether Trump should stay in office.
“Never before in modern history has a president been impeached without bipartisan support,” Buchanan said in December 2019. “The election is less than a year away — let voters decide.”
Last week’s attack, which saw hundreds of rioters storm the U.S. Capitol and force lawmakers into hiding, left at least five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer.
Democrats say Trump incited the mob by directing them to protest his election defeat on Jan. 6. In statements posted to social media, Buchanan denounced the ensuing riot. He also said he hoped it would “serve as a wake-up call to end the violence and toxic rhetoric that has inflamed our country for months.”
The House could proceed to vote on a Trump impeachment resolution later this week.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 1:40 PM.
