Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee announced Thursday he is introducing articles of impeachment against President Trump following the violence in Virginia.
Mr. Cohen, a Democrat, said Mr. Trump failed the “presidential test of moral leadership” in the wake of the bloody clashes between white nationalist groups and rival protesters in Charlottesville.
“I have expressed great concerns about President Trump’s ability to lead our country in the Resolution of No Confidence (H.Res. 456) that I introduced in July with 29 of my colleagues; however, after the President’s comments on Saturday, August 12 and again on Tuesday, August 15 in response to the horrific events in Charlottesville, I believe the President should be impeached and removed from office,” Mr. Cohen said in a release.
“Instead of unequivocally condemning hateful actions by neo-Nazis, white nationalists and Klansmen following a national tragedy, the President said ‘there were very fine people on both sides,’” he said. “There are no good Nazis. There are no good Klansmen.”
Mr. Trump initially said there were “many sides” to blame for the clashes.
One man man allegedly ramming a car into a crowd of counter protesters, killing a woman and injuring 19 others.
Mr. Trump later took direct aim at the white nationalists groups and said racism is evil, but soon returned to his original argument that violent “alt-left” groups were also to blame for the chaos.
Democrats and Republicans have said there is no moral equivalence between white supremacists and their opponents.
Mr. Cohen said the images that came out of the Charlottesville “reminded me of videos I’ve seen of Kristallnacht in 1938 in Nazi Germany,” noting how footage showed protesters marching in Klan-like fashion and chanting “Jews will not replace us” and “blood and soil.”
“President Trump has shown time and time again that he lacks the ethical and moral rectitude to be President of the United States,” Mr. Cohen said. “If the President can’t recognize the difference between these domestic terrorists and the people who oppose their anti-American attitudes, then he cannot defend us.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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