Cuomo: ‘I call on President Trump to resign’

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Friday became the latest political leader to call for President Trump to resign after a pro-Trump mob raided the Capitol on Wednesday.

“I call on President Trump to resign,” Cuomo wrote on Twitter. “If he refuses, I call for impeachment.” 

I call on President Trump to resign.

If he refuses, I call for impeachment.

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 8, 2021

In a press conference, the governor voiced support for Trump’s resignation or possible impeachment, adding that he calls on “every New York federal elected official to call for President Trump’s immediate resignation.”

“Put principle over party. There’s no elected official that can look in the mirror and say ‘I condone what happened. I condone what the president did,’ ” he added, according to CBS’s Rochester-affiliate station, WROC-TV. 

“This was not a political rally or democracy in action,” he continued. “This was anarchy, an explosion of hate, the result of a leader — who for four years — appealed to the worst in people: Appealed to fear, racism, and discrimination.”

“I ask you today, are you with the mob? New Yorkers don’t support mob-rule, racism, discrimination, anarchy — no New Yorker does,” the Democratic governor said. “And if they do, I don’t care if you’re a Republican, no elected official should support that.”

Cuomo had condemned the violence on Capitol Hill earlier in the week, calling the actions of the rioters who stormed the Capitol, destroyed windows and doors and ransacked offices “a failed attempt at a coup.” 

“We won’t let President Trump, those in Congress who enable him, or the lawless mob that stormed the Capitol steal our democracy,” he continued in a tweet. “The will of the American people will be carried out.”

We must call today’s violence what it actually is: a failed attempt at a coup.

We won’t let President Trump, those in Congress who enable him, or the lawless mob that stormed the Capitol steal our democracy.

The will of the American people will be carried out. pic.twitter.com/8DSeHJYzmN

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 6, 2021

In another tweet later that evening, Cuomo announced he was deploying 1,000 members of the New York National Guard to Washington, D.C., for up to two weeks to “aid and facilitate the peaceful transition of presidential power.” 

Many Democratic lawmakers and some GOP officials have joined calls for Trump to resign following Wednesday’s riots. Hours before the chaos, Trump had told supporters at a rally to march on Congress, citing his repeated unsubstantiated claims that the election was “stolen” from him. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested House lawmakers would move to impeach the president if Vice President Pence and other Cabinet officials declined to remove Trump by invoking the 25th Amendment — a move that Pence reportedly opposes. 

Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) on Friday said a vote to impeach Trump for the second time could happen as early as next week.

Wednesday’s riot has already led to the resignation of several administration officials, including Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Five people died Wednesday amid the chaos, including a woman who was shot by a Capitol Police officer and an officer who died after suffering injuries when responding to the rioting. Both fatalities are under investigation.