HHS Secretary Alex Azar twice REFUSES to say if Donald Trump is fit for office or if he has talked about the 25th Amendment with the rest of the cabinet
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar twice refused to say if he believed President Donald Trump is fit for office during an interview Tuesday.
He also wouldn't divulge whether he's discussed the 25th Amendment with Vice President Mike Pence or the rest of the remaining members of Trump's cabinet.
Azar was pressed by 'Good Morning America' host George Stephanopoulos on whether the president was able to 'discharge the powers and duties of his office.'
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar twice refused to say whether he believed President Donald Trump is fit for office - and wouldn't say if he's discussed the 25th Amendment with Vice President Mike Pence or fellow cabinet members
On Tuesday's 'Good Morning America,' George Stephanopoulos asked Azar whether the president was able to 'discharge the powers and duties of his office,' and Azar never gave a yes or no answer
Azar has typically tried not to say anything that would damage President Donald Trump, pictured at Joint Base Andrews Tuesday, but cabinet members are being pressured by mostly Democratic members of Congress to invoke the 25th Amendment
The HHS secretary first answered by condemning the Capitol attack and on second asking said, 'The rhetoric last week was unacceptable.'
'I'm not going to get into or discuss the 25th Amendment here,' he continued. 'I'm committed - I've wrestled with this - I'm committed to see this through in my role as Health secretary during a pandemic, to ensure that vaccines and thereapeutics get out to the American people and to ensure a smooth handoff to President-elect Biden's team.'
Stephanopoulos than asked if Azar had discussed invoking the 25th Amendment with Pence or the other cabinet heads.
'It would not be appropriate for me to discuss - and I never have - my conversations with colleagues or with the president and vice president,' Azar said.
Democrats and some Republicans have said Trump should be removed from office before inauguration day after inciting Wednesday's Capitol Hill riot.
Already, Secretaries Elaine Chao and Betsy DeVos have quit the administration in protest over Trump's incitement of a riot and then handling of the violence on Capitol Hill Wednesday, an incident that left five dead, including a member of the U.S. Capitol Police.
The acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf resigned Monday over questions of whether his leading of the department was legal.
Last Wednesday the White House had pulled his nomination because no further Senate action on Trump appointees was expected before inauguration day.
Azar's refusal to comment on Trump's fitness is a departure from his usual instinct to say nothing that could come off as critical about the president.
On Tuesday night, the House of Representatives plans to pass a resolution that calls on Pence to gather the cabinet and invoke the 25th Amendment, which strips Trump of power with just eight day to go before Biden's swearing-in.
Just half the cabinet has to vote in favor of invoking the 25th.
If Pence and the cabinet refuse, Democrats are planning an impeachment vote starting Wednesday.
Trump was already impeached once, in December 2019, over a scheme with Ukraine. Republicans in the Senate saved him from being booted from office during the trial in February.
Polling shows a majority of Americans hold Trump accountable for the violent mob ascending on Capitol Hill Wednesday as lawmakers were trying to certify Biden's Electoral College win.
A Quinnipiac survey released Monday found that 53 per cent of voters believe Trump should resign for inciting the violent MAGA mob.
A similar number, 52 per cent, believe he should be removed from office before his term is up.