During an interview on PBS’ ‘Firing Line,’ Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, said that the Senate should consider the 14th Amendment to remove Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) over their objections last week to the Electoral College results that fueled the assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Manchin said the Senate should explore the option after a violent mob, riled up by Donald Trump and convinced by Republicans like Cruz and Hawley that the election was “stolen from them,” stormed the Capitol in one of the darkest points in American democracy.
“They should look, absolutely. That should be a consideration,” Manchin said when asked if the 14th Amendment should be triggered. “He understands that, Ted’s a very bright individual, and I get along fine with Ted. But what he did was totally outside of the realm of our responsibilities or our privileges.”
The third section of the 14th Amendment reads that no lawmaker holding office “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
“I’m totally convinced it was done because of political reasons. This was all politically-motivated, this was calculated,” said Manchin. “I believe that all my colleagues truly made a decision that was politically best for them and expedient for them. It was not what they believed to be true or false.”
Senate Democrats have called for the two senators’ resignations, while Republicans have rebuked them for their objections, which Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) called “dumbass.”
Cruz and Hawley, however, have defended their actions, saying they were trying to address concerns from their constituents about election fraud that were propagated by Trump and his allies.
Watch:
.@Sen_JoeManchin: removing Hawley & Cruz by the 14th Amendment/section 3, which disqualifies lawmakers who have engaged in insurrection, should be considered.
"Ted’s a very bright individual," he says, "but what he did was totally outside of the realm of our responsibilities." pic.twitter.com/KWQ5asFi8q
— Firing Line with Margaret Hoover (@FiringLineShow) January 13, 2021
