Protesters gather on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan 6, 2021. Pro-Trump protesters entered the building after mass demonstrations. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) (JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League became the first major mainstream Jewish organization to call for Donald Trump’s removal from the presidency for his role in instigating an armed insurrection at the Capitol.
“In our over 100 years of history, ADL has never called for the president of the United States to be removed from office, but what occurred on Wednesday was inexcusable,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL CEO, said in a letter to the civil rights group’s membership. “It will forever be remembered as one of the darkest days of American democracy and it makes unambiguously clear: President Trump is unfit for office and needs to be removed.”
The mob that stormed the Capitol sought to stop Congress from affirming that Joe Biden won the election. Trump is less than two weeks away from leaving the presidency, but his urging on of the marauders, whose raid left five people dead, has led to calls from Democrats and some Republicans for his removal, either through resignation or constitutional means.
The ADL monitors extremist movements, and Greenblatt attached to his memo reports from his organization about ties between the insurrection and the far right, including anti-Semitic groups. Greenblatt also included petitions calling on social media companies to remove Trump from their platforms, an extension of the ADL’s recent campaign to press Facebook to act more aggressively against hate.
Democrats are reportedly ready to launch impeachment proceedings against Trump next week. It would be the second time Trump is impeached.
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