Democrats are pursuing a quick second impeachment a week after President Donald Trump gave a speech they say incited insurrection. On Jan. 6, while Congress was in the process of counting electoral votes and certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win, a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, clashed with police, and forced lawmakers to pause their sessions and evacuate to safety.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., argued against impeachment during a hearing Jan. 13. He said recognized that the attack on the Capitol was “un-democratic” and anti-American,” and said that “violence is never a legitimate form of protest.”
McCarthy also pushed back on claims by some Republicans that the far-left group Antifa was responsible for the mob violence. Nevertheless, the minority leader said he believed “impeaching the president in such a short time-frame would be a mistake,” and that doing so would “fan the flames of partisan division.”
He urged members of Congress against further polarization and asked them “unite once again as Americans.” McCarthy denounced the “continued rhetoric that Joe Biden is not the legitimate president” by some within his party. “Let’s be clear: Joe Biden will be sworn in as POTUS in one week, because he won the election,” McCarthy said.
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