Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: “The 25th Amendment is of zero risks to me but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration – as the expression goes, be careful what you wish for,” a defiant Donald Trump, the outgoing 45th US President, remarked on Wednesday.
His remarks case after frantic attempts being made by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives to impeach him or get Vice President Mike Pence to oust him before January 20. But his successor President-elect Joe Biden is not apparently interested in going ahead with this drastic move as he prepares for Inauguration next week and wants Trump to retire peacefully next week.
In his first reaction after the January 6 violence at the US Capitol by his supporters, Trump’s remarks came on Tuesday during his address of his supporters’ meeting at Alamo, facing the Mexico border wall in Texas, a symbol of the stringent immigration policy he has pursued during his tumultuous four years in office.
Democrats are trying to find ways to remove him from office before the January 20 inauguration of Biden, saying Trump had put the safety of government at risk on January 6 when his Republican supporters stormed the US Capitol in Washington DC, leading to unprecedented violence that claimed five lives, including that of a police official.
Apart from pushing ahead a resolution using the 25th Amendment, House lawmakers also passed a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to remove Trump from office before January 20.
But Trump remained as defiant as he has always been.
“Using the 25th amendment in this new way will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration. As the expression goes, be careful what you wish for,” he remarked
“The impeachment hoax is a continuation of the greatest and most vicious witch hunt in the history of our country and is causing tremendous anger and division and pain, far greater than most people will ever understand, which is very dangerous for the USA, especially at this very tender time,” he also said.
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Addressing his supporters, Trump began with the focus on himself and his social media ban, saying, “Before we begin I’d like to say that free speech is under assault like never before.”
“As I have consistently said throughout my administration, we believe in respecting American’s history and traditions, not tearing them down. We believe in the rule of law, not in violence or rioting. Because of the pandemic – horrible, horrible invisible enemy.”
The impeachment move is causing anger globally but I want no violence, he said.
He concluded by appealing for “peace and calm” and “respect for law enforcement and the great people within law enforcement.”