While one NC Republican wants Biden to resign, Cawthorn wants the president removed
Republican members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation, already critical of President Joe Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal plan and execution, amplified their criticism of the president after more than a dozen U.S. service members were killed in a bombing Thursday.
Rep. Virginia Foxx and Rep. Richard Hudson derided Biden’s “incompetence.” Rep. Greg Murphy called for Biden’s resignation.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn went one step further, sending letters to Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden’s Cabinet officials asking them to invoke the 25th Amendment, which allows them along with the vice president to declare “the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
“President Biden’s physical inability to lead is not a political talking point. It is a demonstrable fact. Our president is not mentally fit to serve as president of these United States,” Cawthorn said in a three-minute video staged to look like a presidential address to the nation.
“I truly believe he is unable to discharge the duties of his office. ... We must not allow this mentally unstable individual to direct our country for one second longer.”
In his letter, Cawthorn originally misspelled Harris’ first name. He included extended quotations from the book “Treasure Island,” which he wrote tells “us that even at the last extremity our better angels can triumph against all odds.”
The 25-year-old Cawthorn, a first-term representative from far-western North Carolina, is the youngest member of the House of Representatives. He has drawn criticism for his rhetoric previously, including right after his election victory and for speaking at a rally on Jan. 6 before rioters stormed the Capitol.
Criticism of Biden’s decisions
Biden addressed the country Thursday about the events unfolding in Afghanistan and took questions from the press. He expressed sorrow for the Americans who were killed and vowed to track down those who carried out the attack at the airport in Kabul, where the U.S. and its allies have been evacuating thousands ahead of an Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline.
“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden said. “I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command.”
Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, attacked Biden’s mental acuity throughout the 2020 presidential campaign. Biden, 78, is the oldest president the country has had. Trump had been the oldest president first inaugurated.
After Biden’s speech Thursday, Murphy, a Greenville Republican, said he didn’t know “how anyone could have confidence in this Administration’s ability to solve this crisis.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said Biden should be impeached over the withdrawal.
Concern for service members
Several members of the North Carolina delegation issued statements on the deaths of the American military members without criticizing Biden directly.
“We owe them – and all of our forces in Afghanistan – an immeasurable debt of gratitude. I join every American in praising the courage of the fallen, and I pray for the families of these brave American heroes,” said Rep. Deborah Ross, a Wake County Democrat. “As President Biden assured the nation yesterday, our forces are committed to finishing the mission.”
Thursday afternoon, Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican, called on Biden to speak to the nation and take questions. Biden addressed the country later Thursday afternoon.
“Our service members have been heroic in their efforts to evacuate Americans and Afghans,” Tillis said in a statement. “The terrorist attacks in Kabul are horrific and jeopardize our efforts to evacuate American citizens and our Afghan friends and allies.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday was asked directly about the Republican lawmakers who are calling for Biden to resign. She said she was aware of those calls or that they’re being posted on Twitter.
“The backdrop here is the U.S. men and women of the military deployed on the ground are bravely continuing to implement a mission to save lives on the ground — American citizens, Afghan partners. Many people that some of these same individuals are calling for us to evacuate yesterday, they lost 13 of their own,” Psaki said. “And the President made absolutely clear that we’re going to hunt down, go after and kill the terrorist responsible. Everyone should be supportive of that.”
McClatchyDC White House reporter Alex Roarty contributed to this report.
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This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 1:43 PM.