Biden on Calls to Remove Trump: Fastest Way Is to Carry On With Inauguration

President-elect Joe Biden said the fastest way to remove President Donald Trump from office was to move forward with the president-elect’s inauguration but said it was a “good thing” Trump didn’t plan to attend.

Biden said that even though Trump exceeded his worst expectations, he is now focusing on “getting into office,” not on impeaching Trump.

“If we were six months out, we should be doing everything we can to get him out of office,” but not two weeks before a new administration takes over, he told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware.

Still, he said “it’s a good thing him not showing up” at the inauguration.

Biden said it was up to Congress to decide whether to impeach Trump but “we’re going to do our job and Congress can decide how to proceed with theirs.”

Biden said he would speak later Friday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic congressional leadership about his agenda, which includes speeding vaccine distribution and economic growth.

Some outraged lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say Trump encouraged supporters to storm the Capitol Wednesday, overwhelming law enforcement, forcing evacuations and sparking mayhem that left five people dead, including a police officer. Even though he the president has only a few days left in his term, many have called for Trump to be stripped of power as soon as possible.

Pelosi has been calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump and said the House will move forward on articles of impeachment if nothing is done, as the chamber’s top Republican warned such a move would further divide the country.

Those documents have already been drafted, but in a conference call Friday with House Democrats Pelosi didn’t say whether she’s made a decision about proceeding, according to people who listened in on the call. She said she’s waiting to get a response from Pence and indicated she planned to talk with Biden to get his view on next steps, according to one of the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the call was private.