Trump Betrayed Our Country, Unfit To Lead: Gov. Cooper

NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper joined the growing, bipartisan call for President Donald Trump to be removed from office Thursday afternoon.

"This president has betrayed our country an is therefore unfit to lead it," Cooper said in a statement posted on social media. "He should resign or be removed from office."

Cooper's comments come as talk of removing Trump from office intensified Thursday, a day after insurrectionists loyal to him stormed Capitol Hill and temporarily suspended but did not derail proceedings to confirm Joe Biden as the nation's 46th president.

SEE ALSO: 'Trump Bears Responsibility For Today's Events': NC's Sen. Burr

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the latest to call on Trump's Cabinet and Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, which sets out the process for removing a president from office if deemed unfit to serve. If that doesn't happen, the California Democrat said, Congress may take steps to impeach Trump for a second time. He was impeached by the House in December 2019 but was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020.

Pelosi was joined by Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat in line to become the next Senate majority leader, in calling for Trump's removal for a "seditious act" — that is, the act of inciting revolt or violence against a lawful authority with the goal of destroying or overthrowing it.

Calls for Trump's removal from office were made beyond Democrats in Congress.

"It's with a heavy heart I am calling for the sake of our Democracy that the 25th Amendment be invoked," Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, said via Twitter Thursday.

"All indications are that the president has become unmoored, not just from his duty or even his oath, but from reality itself," Kinzinger said in a video explaining his stance. "The president is unfit and the president is unwell. The president must now relinquish control of the Executive Branch voluntarily or involuntarily."

Vermont's Republican governor has also weighed in, calling for Trump's resignation or removal from office. "Make no mistake, the President of the United States is responsible for this event," Gov. Phil Scott said Wednesday. "There is no doubt that the President's delusion, fabrication, self-interest, and ego have led us — step by step — to this very low, and very dangerous, moment in American history."

It’s with a heavy heart I am calling for the sake of our Democracy that the 25th Amendment be invoked. My statement: pic.twitter.com/yVyQrYcjuD
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) January 7, 2021

Tim Moran, Patch staff, contributed