The election of`Donald Trump as US President is proving to be one of the most controversial and divisive developments on the global political stage in years. The polarisation his rise to power has caused, not only in the US but around the world is unprecedented. A German editor-publisher said that “murder in the White House” would be the easiest way to stop the “Trump catastrophe” as official impeachment through the US Congress would be too difficult.
Josef Joffe, editor and publisher of the left-leaning German newspaper Die Zeit, made the remarks during an episode of the ‘Presse club’ show on public broadcaster ARD on Wednesday. A German editor-publisher said that “murder in the White House” would be the easiest way to stop the “Trump catastrophe” as official impeachment through the US Congress would be too difficult.
Josef Joffe, editor and publisher of the left-leaning German newspaper Die Zeit, made the remarks during an episode of the ‘Presse club’ show on public broadcaster ARD on Wednesday. “Is there still a way out of the Trump catastrophe? Is there a legal possible scenario or a passage in the Constitution which would lead to his removal from office?” the viewer asked.
One of the experts present, publicist Constanze Stelzenmüller, responded with an explanation that the legal aspects of an official withdrawal procedure are rather complex and lengthy.
“A qualified two-thirds majority of the Senate must vote for [Trump’s] removal from office to take place. There are many political and legal hurdles, a lot would have to happen for it,” Stelzenmüller said. Just as she had finished, Joffe cut in, saying, “murder in the White House, for example,” without elaborating.
Joffe and his paper have been particularly critical of Trump, as have most mainstream German publications after the US president’s controversial remarks on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s immigration policy and exiting “obsolete” NATO.