The editorial boards of The New York Times and The Washington Post each accused President Trump of impeachable conduct for fomenting the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Both prominent newspapers published opinion columns recommending that Mr. Trump face consequences, including potentially being removed from office early, following the violent uprising on Capitol Hill.
“Mr. Trump’s seditious rhetoric prompted a mob of thousands of people to storm the U.S. Capitol building,” The Times journalists wrote.
“The president needs to be held accountable — through impeachment proceedings or criminal prosecution — and the same goes for his supporters who carried out the violence,” they wrote in the op-ed.
Post columnists similarly blamed Mr. Trump in an op-ed of their own calling for his presidency to end prematurely.
“Responsibility for this act of sedition lies squarely with the president, who has shown that his continued tenure in office poses a grave threat to U.S. democracy. He should be removed,” they wrote.
“The president is unfit to remain in office for the next 14 days. Every second he retains the vast powers of the presidency is a threat to public order and national security,” the column read in part.
The editorial boards of both papers are made up of opinion journalists and operate independently of their newsrooms.
Mr. Trump had encouraged his supporters to descend Wednesday on Washington, D.C., to protest his defeat to President-elect Joseph R. Biden.
The president spoke to them shortly before they stormed the Capitol.
Four people died, and several dozen were arrested.
Mr. Trump was already impeached in 2019 by the U.S. House of Representatives in connection with him withholding military aid from Ukraine while also requesting the country investigate Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter.
The president was acquitted in the Senate, however, effectively allowing him to continue serving out his term despite being impeached.
Mr. Biden subsequently beat Mr. Trump in November’s election and is accordingly set to be sworn-in as the nation’s next president on Jan. 20.
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