Rep. Cori Bush jumped right into the impeachment talks today with a blistering 30-second speech, urging her colleagues to remove the "white supremacist in chief."
The House of Representatives is considering an article of impeachment that accuses Donald Trump of "incitement of an insurrection" following last week's storming of the U.S. Capitol.
The president had urged his supporters to flock to Washington, D.C. on January 6, the day of that Congress was set to certify the results of presidential election and confirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory and Trump's defeat. During a speech to thousands, he attacked his political enemies and told his backers to "fight hard" and that "you will never take back our country with weakness."
He then directed them to march on the Capitol, where mobs were able to overrun barricades, push inside and swarm the halls of Congress while lawmakers and staff were ushered into hiding. Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer who was reportedly bashed with a fire extinguisher.
The rioters carried Confederate and Trump flags and multiple intruders wore shirts celebrating the Holocaust.
Democrats and a number of Republicans now support impeaching Trump, who would be the first president to be impeached twice.
"If we fail to remove a white supremacist president who incited a white supremacist insurrection, it’s communities like Missouri’s First District that suffer the most," Bush told her House colleagues. "The 117th Congress must understand that we have a mandate to legislate in defense of Black lives."
In less than two weeks in office, Bush has already emerged as a powerful voice in the progressive movement. A Ferguson activist who defeated Democratic heavyweight Lacy Clay to win her seat, she began the week by introducing a resolution to expel Republican reps who incited the Capitol riot.
This afternoon, her speech in favor of impeachment was short and unflinching in her demand to defend Black lives.
"The first step in that process," she said in her conclusion, "is to root out white supremacy, starting with impeaching the white supremacist in chief."
Republicans booed as she returned to her seat.
Cori Bush dropped the mic in about 30 seconds pic.twitter.com/qZNHQLk7Kv
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 13, 2021
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