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Democrats plan impeachment, Twitter deletes Trump's account

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An increasingly isolated President Donald Trump sought on Friday to stave off a new drive to impeach him and Twitter permanently suspended his account, two days after his supporters stormed the US Capitol in an assault on American democracy.


Twitter, long Trump’s favorite way to communicate with his supporters and a way to share his false claims of election fraud with his nearly 90 million followers, had been under increasing pressure to take action after Wednesday’s mayhem in Washington.


Trump exhorted thousands of followers to march on the Capitol as Congress met to certify his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, prompting chaos in which crowds breached the building, forced the evacuation of both chambers and left a police officer and four others dead in their wake.


“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said.


Plans for future armed protests were proliferating on and off Twitter, the company added, including a proposed secondary attack on the Capitol on Jan. 17.


There was no immediate response from the White House to the move by Twitter. While he remains in office, Trump would still have access to the official @POTUS presidential account.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday that if Trump did not resign, she had instructed the House Rules Committee to move ahead with a motion for impeachment and legislation on the U.S. Constitution’s 25th Amendment, which provides for removal of a president who is unable to discharge his official duties.


Democrats, who said a House vote on impeachment could come next week, hope the impeachment threat can intensify pressure on Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment before Trump’s term ends in less than two weeks.


“Impeaching President Donald Trump with 12 days remaining in his presidency would only serve to further divide the country,” said White House spokesman Judd Deere.


A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Thursday and Friday found 57%of Americans want Trump to be removed immediately from office following the violence on Wednesday. Nearly 70% also disapproved of Trump’s actions in the run-up to the Capitol rampage.


Trump’s role in encouraging Wednesday’s chaos has opened a growing rift within the Republican Party.


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