Members of the American public and lawmakers alike are demanding action after the unprecedented attack on the U.S. Capitol Wednesday that forced members of Congress into lockdown and delayed the counting of Electoral College votes. Congressman Seth Moulton (D-Mass. - 6th District) is among several lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.- 12th District), calling for the removal of President Donald Trump from office for inciting the chaos that unfolded on Capitol Hill.
"What President Trump did was not only illegal, it was anti-democratic. It was un-American, and we need to show future generations of Americans and future presidents that they can't get away with this," Moulton told Cheddar.
For Moulton, the president is just one of several people culpable for fanning the flames of aggression that led to yesterday's attack on Congress. Though the congressman considers many of his GOP counterparts friends, he said, "they have blood on their hands" and should also be held accountable.
"At the end of the day, the domestic terrorists — and that's what they were, domestic terrorists, not protesters but domestic terrorists — who attacked our government outside the Capitol, breaking in and breaching the U.S. Capitol for the first time since the British in the War of 1812, those domestic terrorists outside the Capitol were supported and inspired by the lawless Republican lawmakers inside the Capitol who refused to respect the will of the American people," he said.
The Marine veteran who served as an infantry officer said two law enforcement breakdowns led to Wednesday's display: a lack of backup support for officers and a lack of competence displayed by members of the Capitol Police. "There are over 2,000 Capitol Police and yet, yesterday we saw them literally open barricades in some places for these protesters, taking selfies with these protesters, and fundamentally allowing them to overrun the Capitol," Moulton said.
While DC's National Guard will be mobilized for the next 30 days, Moulton said the president's refusal to activate the troops while the chaos was unfolding exposes a larger issue in the matter of the District of Columbia's lack of statehood.
"The president had no problem calling out the National Guard to put down peaceful protests this summer over Black Lives Matter but he did not want the National Guard called out against his own supporters," he said.
Though there are just under two weeks left of Trump's presidency, Moulton said impeaching the president has to be on the table to show that no one, not even the president, is above the law.
"Yesterday, he clearly broke the law, and he fundamentally violated his oath of office, which is to protect us Americans from all enemies, foreign and domestic," he added.
Markets were pointing mostly lower to end the week as investors reacted to the threat of a Covid resurgence in Europe. Jeff Schulze, Investment Strategist at ClearBridge Investments joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss Friday's pre-market activity.
A federal judge tossed out a lawsuit against financial services platform Robinhood following the meme stock saga that swept the investment world. The judge said it found no wrongdoing on Robinhood's part after the platform halted trading on popular meme stocks Gamestop and AMC.
Jill and Carlo are back to cover the latest in the Rittenhouse trial, new information on the origins of Covid, return-to-office and more.
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The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Uber after it was discovered that disabled people were being disproportionately affected by extra “wait time” fees. Attorney Jonathan Bell joined Cheddar to discuss.
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Polarization is among the defining traits of American politics in the 21st century. Sometimes it seems like the only thing we can all agree on is the fact that we don't really agree on anything. But those divisions don't just stop at whether you vote red or blue.
A new survey from the Pew Research Center finds that rather than just two political buckets, we have nine. The "2021 political typology" as it's called distinguishes between different ideological subsets in the Democratic and Republican party. It encompasses everyone from the loudest revolutionary lefties, to the loudest insurrection apologists on the right.
Andrew Daniller, research associate at the Pew Research Center, joins None of the Above to discuss.
Tanya Snyder, transportation reporter at Politico, joins None of the Above with J.D. Durkin to discuss the bipartisan infrastructure law, what it means for the electric vehicle industry and whether Democrats will be able to capitalize on the legislative victory ahead of the 2022 midterms.
Heading into 2022, the eyes of political nerds like us are fixed on statehouses across the country. State legislatures are in the process of taking the data from the 2020 census and using it to draw new congressional districts. The process has major implications for midterms, as Republicans could retake the majority just by gerrymandering enough seats into their column. In Maryland, state level Democrats are considering several maps, one of which would completely draw out the only Republican from the state in Congress.
Bruce DePuyt, senior reporter at Maryland Matters, and Helen Brewer, legal analyst at Princeton's Electoral Innovation Lab, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
