SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is seen during a hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on August 24, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images)
Failure to Hold Trump Accountable for Capitol Siege Means 'It Will Happen Again,' Says Rep. Ocasio-Cortez
"If another head of state came in and ordered an attack on the United States Congress, would we say that that should not be prosecuted?" the New York Democrat said Sunday.
Jan 09, 2021
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday stressed a need for President Donald Trump's removal from office, saying that failing to hold him accountable for Wednesday's violent attack on the Capitol could ensure "it will happen again."
Speaking with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week," the New York Democrat said that ensuring Trump's ouster was a "top priority" and that House leadership must schedule impeachment.
The president poses "a clear and present danger not just to the United States Congress but frankly to the country," said Ocasio-Cortez. In addition to removing Trump from the Oval Office, lawmakers must ensure he can neither run for office again nor issue a self-pardon, she said.
Asked her response to a letter sent Saturday to President-elect Joe Biden from a group of seven House Republicans urging him help stop impeachment, calling it "as unnecessary as it is inflammatory," Ocasio-Cortez was clear she views the situation quite differently.
"What happened on Wednesday was insurrection against the United States," she said. Referencing Republicans' framing of the letter as being "in the spirit of healing," Ocasio-Cortez said that "the process of healing... requires accountability."
"So if we allow insurrection against the United States with impunity, with no accountability, we are inviting it to happen again," she said. Ocasio-Cortez emphasized that lives were at risk during the armed siege, telling Stephanopoulos, "We came close to half of the House nearly dying on Wednesday."
"If another head of state came in and ordered an attack on the United States Congress, would we say that that should not be prosecuted? Would we say there should be absolutely no response to that? No," she said.
"It is an act of insurrection. It's an act of hostility," she continued. "And we must have accountability, because without it it will happen again."
Watch the full interview below:
The interview came after a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her Democratic colleagues that it was "absolutely essential that those who perpetrated the assault on our democracy be held accountable. There must be a recognition that this desecration was instigated by the president."
The dear colleague letter, released late Saturday, does not specifically mention impeachment, but references "parliamentary and constitutional options available to us" she's discussed with lawyers. "I urge you to be prepared to return to Washington this week," Pelosi added.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said Sunday that an impeachment resolution he drafted along with Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has 195 co-sponsors. It will be introduced in the House Monday at a pro-forma session, he said.
With a mere 11 days left in his term, the prospect of Trump's removal through impeachment is dim, as Politico noted Saturday. "The Senate likely wouldn't even begin Trump's impeachment trial until after Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20," the outlet reported. "Even then, it's not clear if any Senate Republicans would join with Democrats to convict Trump."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
alexandria ocasio-cortezdemocracyjan 6 insurrectionpoliticsrepublican partytrumpismus congresswhite supremacy
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday stressed a need for President Donald Trump's removal from office, saying that failing to hold him accountable for Wednesday's violent attack on the Capitol could ensure "it will happen again."
Speaking with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week," the New York Democrat said that ensuring Trump's ouster was a "top priority" and that House leadership must schedule impeachment.
The president poses "a clear and present danger not just to the United States Congress but frankly to the country," said Ocasio-Cortez. In addition to removing Trump from the Oval Office, lawmakers must ensure he can neither run for office again nor issue a self-pardon, she said.
Asked her response to a letter sent Saturday to President-elect Joe Biden from a group of seven House Republicans urging him help stop impeachment, calling it "as unnecessary as it is inflammatory," Ocasio-Cortez was clear she views the situation quite differently.
"What happened on Wednesday was insurrection against the United States," she said. Referencing Republicans' framing of the letter as being "in the spirit of healing," Ocasio-Cortez said that "the process of healing... requires accountability."
"So if we allow insurrection against the United States with impunity, with no accountability, we are inviting it to happen again," she said. Ocasio-Cortez emphasized that lives were at risk during the armed siege, telling Stephanopoulos, "We came close to half of the House nearly dying on Wednesday."
"If another head of state came in and ordered an attack on the United States Congress, would we say that that should not be prosecuted? Would we say there should be absolutely no response to that? No," she said.
"It is an act of insurrection. It's an act of hostility," she continued. "And we must have accountability, because without it it will happen again."
Watch the full interview below:
The interview came after a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her Democratic colleagues that it was "absolutely essential that those who perpetrated the assault on our democracy be held accountable. There must be a recognition that this desecration was instigated by the president."
The dear colleague letter, released late Saturday, does not specifically mention impeachment, but references "parliamentary and constitutional options available to us" she's discussed with lawyers. "I urge you to be prepared to return to Washington this week," Pelosi added.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said Sunday that an impeachment resolution he drafted along with Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has 195 co-sponsors. It will be introduced in the House Monday at a pro-forma session, he said.
With a mere 11 days left in his term, the prospect of Trump's removal through impeachment is dim, as Politico noted Saturday. "The Senate likely wouldn't even begin Trump's impeachment trial until after Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20," the outlet reported. "Even then, it's not clear if any Senate Republicans would join with Democrats to convict Trump."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday stressed a need for President Donald Trump's removal from office, saying that failing to hold him accountable for Wednesday's violent attack on the Capitol could ensure "it will happen again."
Speaking with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week," the New York Democrat said that ensuring Trump's ouster was a "top priority" and that House leadership must schedule impeachment.
The president poses "a clear and present danger not just to the United States Congress but frankly to the country," said Ocasio-Cortez. In addition to removing Trump from the Oval Office, lawmakers must ensure he can neither run for office again nor issue a self-pardon, she said.
Asked her response to a letter sent Saturday to President-elect Joe Biden from a group of seven House Republicans urging him help stop impeachment, calling it "as unnecessary as it is inflammatory," Ocasio-Cortez was clear she views the situation quite differently.
"What happened on Wednesday was insurrection against the United States," she said. Referencing Republicans' framing of the letter as being "in the spirit of healing," Ocasio-Cortez said that "the process of healing... requires accountability."
"So if we allow insurrection against the United States with impunity, with no accountability, we are inviting it to happen again," she said. Ocasio-Cortez emphasized that lives were at risk during the armed siege, telling Stephanopoulos, "We came close to half of the House nearly dying on Wednesday."
"If another head of state came in and ordered an attack on the United States Congress, would we say that that should not be prosecuted? Would we say there should be absolutely no response to that? No," she said.
"It is an act of insurrection. It's an act of hostility," she continued. "And we must have accountability, because without it it will happen again."
Watch the full interview below:
The interview came after a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her Democratic colleagues that it was "absolutely essential that those who perpetrated the assault on our democracy be held accountable. There must be a recognition that this desecration was instigated by the president."
The dear colleague letter, released late Saturday, does not specifically mention impeachment, but references "parliamentary and constitutional options available to us" she's discussed with lawyers. "I urge you to be prepared to return to Washington this week," Pelosi added.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said Sunday that an impeachment resolution he drafted along with Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has 195 co-sponsors. It will be introduced in the House Monday at a pro-forma session, he said.
With a mere 11 days left in his term, the prospect of Trump's removal through impeachment is dim, as Politico noted Saturday. "The Senate likely wouldn't even begin Trump's impeachment trial until after Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20," the outlet reported. "Even then, it's not clear if any Senate Republicans would join with Democrats to convict Trump."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.