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World

Twitter permanently suspends Trump as presidency crumbles

  • Two days after Trump sent a mob of followers to march on Congress, his presidency is in freefall, with allies walking away and opponents sharpening their teeth.
Published January 9, 2021

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump, already facing mounting calls to step down or risk impeachment, suffered further ignominy Friday when Twitter permanently suspended his account, saying the US leader is too dangerous to use the platform.

After a "close review" of tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account, "we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," Twitter said.

The unprecedented move, which severs Trump from his 88.7 million followers, is an astounding setback for the president in the chaotic waning days of his administration.

It could also prove an insurmountable hurdle should the brash Republican choose to mount a political comeback in 2024, as he has hinted he could do on multiple occasions.

With his presidency imploding, Trump signalled a final, unrepentant display of division by announcing -- in his final tweet before the ban -- that he will skip the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20.

"To all of those who have asked, I will not be going," he tweeted.

Biden responded this was "a good thing," branding Trump an "embarrassment."

However, Biden showed how wary he is of the growing rush to impeach Trump -- and deepen the nation's political divisions -- over his incitement of crowds who stormed Congress on Wednesday.

"That is a judgment for the Congress to make," Biden said, adding that the "quickest" way to get Trump out was for him and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to take over in 12 days.

"I am focused now on us taking control as president and vice president on the 20th and to get our agenda moving as quickly as we can."

Two days after Trump sent a mob of followers to march on Congress, his presidency is in freefall, with allies walking away and opponents sharpening their teeth.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that Democrats will launch impeachment proceedings unless Trump resigns or Vice President Mike Pence invokes the 25th Amendment, where the cabinet removes the president.

"If the President does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action," Pelosi wrote.

In a jaw-dropping moment, Pelosi revealed she had spoken Friday with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley about "preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike."

"The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people," Pelosi wrote.

House Democrats, who already impeached Trump in a traumatic, partisan vote in 2019, said the unprecedented second impeachment of a president could be ready next week.

"We can act very quickly when we want to," Representative Katherine Clark told CNN.

A draft impeachment resolution being circulated would charge Trump with a single article: "incitement of insurrection."

Whether Republican leaders of the Senate would then agree to hold a lightning-fast impeachment trial before the transition is another matter.

But Republican Senator Ben Sasse told CBS News he would "definitely consider" articles of impeachment if and when they are introduced, while Senator Lisa Murkowski became the chamber's first Republican to openly call for Trump's resignation.

In the House, top Republican Kevin McCarthy said: "Impeaching the president with just 12 days left in his term will only divide our country more."

Trump, whose actions Wednesday capped his relentless efforts to overturn Biden's November 3 election win, finally conceded defeat on Thursday and appealed for calm.

"A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20. My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power," Trump said in a short video.

However, the evidently reluctant concession, in which Trump failed to congratulate Biden or directly admit defeat, was too little, too late to calm outrage over his role in the Capitol invasion.

Five people died in the mayhem, including one woman who was shot dead and a US Capitol Police officer. Flags over the Capitol were lowered to half-staff Friday.

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