Barrington M. Salmon - President Donald Trump should be removed from office for his role in the riots on Capitol Hill but impeachment is unlikely to happen due to the short timeline and lack of political will, analysts told Sputnik.
On Wednesday, thousands of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building in a bid to prevent Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory. The attack came after Trump urged his followers to "fight" to reverse the outcome of the fraud-ridden vote - allegations rejected by every US election security agency.
On Friday, US lawmakers released articles of impeachment charging Trump with "incitement of an insurrection" while other have called for invoking the 25th amendment which calls for removing a president who is unable to discharge his duties. However, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy warned that impeaching the president with 12 days left would only divide the country.
Political scientist Wilmer Leon is skeptical that Democrats will be able to oust Trump by January 20.
"I don’t think they have the backbone to do that, especially with two weeks left," Leon told Sputnik. "Dem leadership will not do that because a lot of them still believe that they can somehow deal with these Trump people."
America will continue to suffer, Leon added, because US authorities and politicians are not going to do the things that they need to do. Leon believes these latest developments underscore the decline of US democracy and American empire.
Wake Forest University Law Professor Kami Chavis said Trump should be held accountable for the "insurrection" that aimed to halt Congress from certifying Biden as president, but is also doubtful he will be removed.
"I don’t think he’ll be impeached although they’re saying they might," Chavis told Sputnik.
She said it would also be appropriate to invoke the 25th amendment.
"He [Trump] is unstable [and] he’s still the leader of the free world for the next two weeks," Chavis said. "We’re in a dangerous situation."