House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) moving less than a month before the presidential election to target the capacity of President Donald Trump brings into question her own capacity, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said late Thursday.
McCarthy said he’s getting together with a number of members of Congress, including some Democrats, to formulate a response.
“We’re going to get together, find out ways that we can craft something, because it really brings into question her own mental capacity to be speaker of the House. Twenty-seven days before an election, to raise this knowing that she could not pass it, knowing that she’s second in line to the presidency,” McCarthy said on “The Mark Levin Show.”
“This is not somebody who should be serving as the speaker of the House of Representatives. So it’s a question from our own body, should she be removed from that position?”
The amendment outlines what happens upon the removal of a president, as well as the succession beyond the vice president.
“The 25th Amendment was adopted 50 years ago, but Congress has never set up the body it calls for to determine presidential fitness in the event of physical or psychological incapacity. Now is the time to do it,” Raskin said in a statement.
McCarthy pointed to Pelosi’s decision to partner with Raskin as impetus to examine her capacity.
“He’s beyond a crackpot. Remember who he was, even two days prior to the President Trump being sworn in, he goes to a rally and says, ‘I’m going to impeach him.’ That is his whole legacy in Congress, to try to impeach a president under no basis but only go against what the voters of America have decided. These people want to dismantle our society,” he said on the radio show.
If a commission was established, he continued, it should be for the president, vice president, and the speaker of the House.
“I think she'd have a very difficult time being able to pass what she’s putting out there,” he said.
Pelosi’s office didn’t return a voicemail.
Other Republicans also spoke out against the Democrats’ proposal.
Pelosi “will stop at NOTHING to take down” Trump, Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) wrote in a tweet. “We won’t let her get away with it,” he promised.
“I wouldn’t put it past @SpeakerPelosi to stage a coup,” added Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.). “She has already weaponized impeachment, what’s to keep her from weaponizing the 25th amendment? We need a new Speaker!”
