'He's a president who has turned into a mad king': Meghan McCain slams Trump and calls for 25th Amendment to be invoked in wake of violent Capitol siege by his supporters
Meghan McCain is calling on her fellow Republicans to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove President Donald Trump from office in the wake of the violent siege of the US Capitol by his supporters.
The View co-host on Thursday condemned Trump and his supporters after they forced their way past metal security barricades, broke windows and scaled walls to fight their way into the Capitol in a rampage that left four dead.
McCain, who is a Republican but has been vocal in her opposition to the current administration, slammed Trump as a 'mad king' and called the riots at the Capitol 'one of America's darkest days'.
'I'm calling on all Republicans and conservatives who still have clout,' the daughter of late Republican Sen John McCain said.
'We have to invoke the 25th Amendment. We cannot withstand this.
'Our country cannot go on like this. We cannot possibly risk the idea that we could have more violence between now and President Biden getting elected and inaugurated.'
Meghan McCain on Thursday condemned Trump and his supporters in the wake of the violent siege of the US Capitol
The two top Democrats in Congress, Sen Charles Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both reached out directly to Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday to try to push him to act immediately to remove Trump from office.
McCain said the United States needed to take a 'very hard look' at Trump and where the country currently is the wake of the Capitol violence.
'This is one of the great national tragedies of my lifetime, this is one of America's darkest days,' she said.
'I think that this is a time to take a very hard look at where we are as a country and take a very hard look at where we are with President Trump.
'The bedrock of our democracy and the bedrock of who we are as Americans is the peaceful transition of power and he is clearly a president who has turned into a mad king.'
McCain went on to slam the Trump supporters responsible for the violence, calling them 'b***ards' and 'scum of the earth', before criticizing Ivanka Trump for initially calling the rioters 'patriots' in a since-deleted tweet.
'You are not patriots. You do not represent America. You are scum of the earth who are using and abusing and bastardizing all that I love and have grown up with for your own sick agenda. And that agenda has been directly — directly — sent by President Trump. And then he didn't disavow it,' she said.
'He didn't send in the National Guard. And then he called them 'special' and said, 'we loved them'.
'Ivanka Trump called these people 'patriots.' I am a patriot, I come from a patriotic family. I come from a family of service as does everyone on this show.'
McCain, who is a Republican but has been vocal in her opposition to the current administration, slammed Trump as a 'mad king' and called the riots at the Capitol 'one of America's darkest days'
Supporters of President Donald Trump are pictured breeching the U.S. Capitol as election results were to be certified after breezing past cops on Wednesday
Speaking directly to the rioters, McCain said: 'You are hurting our country. You are becoming a national embarrassment and we have to get out immediately because this cannot stand.
'The final words I want to say on this show this morning: In the words of Oliver Cromwell, 'In the name of God, Go.' Go. We cannot take this anymore.'
Trump has had a fraught relationship with the staunchly conservative McCain family ever since he disparaged the late Arizona senator during the 2016 campaign.
His widow, Cindy McCain, who said she hadn't voted for a Democrat since she was 18, shocked when she endorsed Democrat Joe Biden during the presidential campaign.
At the time, she cited the decades-long friendship between her family and Biden's and their bond as the parents of children serving in the military.
Trump reacted harshly to the endorsement, disparaging both Biden and John McCain.
'Joe Biden was John McCain's lapdog. So many BAD decisions on Endless Wars & the V.A., which I brought from a horror show to HIGH APPROVAL. Never a fan of John. Cindy can have Sleepy Joe!' Trump tweeted at the time.
The chaotic scenes at the Capitol unfolded after hundreds of Trump's supporters converged on the Capitol in a bid to overturn his election defeat.
Trump had, at a rally just hours earlier, urged his supporters 'to fight' and march on the Capitol building to pressure their elected officials to reject the results of the election he lost.
About 50 minutes into the speech, some of his supporters, waving Trump flags, began heading toward Capitol Hill, where bloody chaos ensued inside one of the most recognizable symbols of American democracy.
The chaotic scenes at the Capitol unfolded after hundreds of Trump's supporters converged on the Capitol in a bid to overturn his election defeat