CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and MSNBC's Chris Matthews both eagerly speculated on the latest long shot liberal hope to get rid of Donald Trump: The 25th Amendment. Building off a mention of it Vanity Fair by Steve Bannon, Blitzer on Thursday asked correspondent Jessica Schneider “Tell our viewers who aren’t familiar with the 25th Amendment, Jessica, precisely what it does.”
She related the dreams of Democrats: “It lays out the path for removal of the president in cases of inability. And that’s a term that has never been defined or suggested. So here’s what exactly would need to happen to set the 25th Amendment in motion.”
Schneider proceeded to tell viewers that the vice president and a majority of the cabinet would have to tell Congress the President is “unable” to discharge his duties. From there, the plan would eventually move to Congress.
Schneider allowed, “Really what it comes down to is that a majority of Republicans in the cabinet and the Congress, they would have to openly reject the President and begin a movement to oust him.”
Undeterred, Blitzer hoped:
In that Vanity Fair article, I think all of us have read it by now, sources describe the President, in that Vanity Fair article, as unraveling, increasingly unfocused and consumed by dark moods. So what’s the likelihood, I think it's pretty remote, of that becoming the implementation of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution?
Over on Wednesday’s Hardball, Chris Matthews and Howard Fineman also speculated on this fantasy:
HOWARD FINEMAN: Chris, I`m going to make the assumption that Donald Trump has now actually read the 25th Amendment and presuming he has, he might want to start being careful about who he puts on the cabinet.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Because they can knock him out.
FINEMAN: A majority can say that he`s unfit to hold the office. I`m telling you, it`s going to completely change Donald Trump's view of a cabinet.
MATTHEWS: Okay, this is really interesting.
A partial transcript is below:
Wolf
10/12/17
1:21pm ETWOLF BLITZER: A source tells Vanity Fair magazine that former chief strategist Steve Bannon thinks that the President only has a 30 percent chance of completing his first full term. According to Vanity Fair, Bannon told Trump the risk was not impeachment, but the 25th Amendment, the provision by which a majority of the cabinet can vote to remove the President. When Bannon mentioned the 25th Amendment, Trump said “What's that?” Close quote. Our justice correspondent Jessica Schneider is joining us with more on the amendment, what it says. Tell our viewers who aren’t familiar with the 25th Amendment, Jessica, precisely what it does.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER: Some of the confusion, Wolf, might actually stem from the fact that the section four of the 25th Amendment, it is actually never been invoked. It lays out the path for removal of the president in cases of inability. And that’s a term that has never been defined or suggested. So here’s what exactly would need to happen to set the 25th Amendment in motion.
...
SCHNEIDER: Really what it comes down to is that a majority of Republicans in the cabinet and the Congress, they would have to openly reject the President and begin a movement to oust him.
...
BLITZER: In that Vanity Fair article, I think all of us have read it by now, sources describe the President, in that Vanity Fair article, as unraveling increasingly unfocused and consumed by dark moods. So what’s the likelihood of that becoming the implementation of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution?
JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS: Well, you’re right. I think we’re pretty far from that. And as Jessica mentioned, that’s a very arduous and long process.
