In an extraordinary statement, one of Washington DC’s largest and most powerful pro-business trade groups is calling for Vice President Mike Pence to “seriously consider” looking at using an unprecedented provision of the US Constitution to remove Donald Trump from office following a day of rioting and insurrection by Trump supporters at the US Capitol.

The NAM, also known as the National Association of Manufacturers, released its statement after a day in which Trump incited thousands of his supporters to storm the Capitol building which resulted in violence and vandalism.

The attack by the rioters created images of thugs roaming the Capitol unimpeded, including taking over the floor of the US Senate.

It was this violence that so worried the NAM, a business group which represents the interests of some 14,000 member companies of varying size.

However, the violence and domestic terrorism of Wednesday prompted this normally conservative organization to act.

“Armed violent protestors who support the baseless claim by outgoing President Trump that he somehow won an election that he overwhelmingly lost have stormed the U.S. Capitol today, attacking police officers and first responders, because Trump refused to accept defeat in a free and fair election. Throughout this whole disgusting episode, Trump has been cheered on by members of his own party, adding fuel to the distrust that has enflamed violent anger. This is not law and order. This is chaos. It is mob rule. It is dangerous. This is sedition and should be treated as such,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The outgoing president incited violence in an attempt to retain power, and any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favor of anarchy. Anyone indulging conspiracy theories to raise campaign dollars is complicit. Vice President Pence, who was evacuated from the Capitol, should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.”

Timmons was referring to Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, in which “the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide,” to declare that the president is unable to discharge his duties and that that, as vice president, he is taking over as acting president.

“This is not the vision of America that manufacturers believe in and work so hard to defend,” Timmons said of Wednesday’s riotous, thuggish actions. “Across America today, millions of manufacturing workers are helping our nation fight the deadly pandemic that has already taken hundreds of thousands of lives. We are trying to rebuild an economy and save and rebuild lives. But none of that will matter if our leaders refuse to fend off this attack on America and our democracy—because our very system of government, which underpins our very way of life, will crumble.”

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