Democrats grow bolder on talk about removing President Trump

Washington: US President Donald Trump’s threats to wipe out Iran, “a whole civilisation,” ended the restraint that Democrats have mostly practiced when it comes to questions of removing him from office in his second term.

By the dozens, Democrats came out to say that Trump should no longer serve in the White House, either through the impeachment process or the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president and the Cabinet to declare that a president is no longer able to perform the job.

While Trump eventually pulled back on his threat and agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, the episode highlighted the growing demands for Democrats to oppose the Republican president in the strongest possible terms.

Calls about Iran flooded into congressional offices, lawmakers said.

The breadth of the Democratic pushback underscored the gravity of Trump’s apocalyptic threat to a country of more than 91 million people. It also served to

raise the domestic political stakes for a conflict that is far from over.

The Trump administration faces mounting calls to testify about the war and justify its demands for hundreds of billions of dollars in new military spending.

“A commander in chief who is truly in control would have never gotten into this colossal mess to begin with,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer at a news conference Wednesday in New York.