Jason Bateman Asks Kamala Harris: Why Can’t Trump Be Removed From Office Before November Election?

Andrew ShusterAug 21st, 2020, 10:59 am
 
Jason Bateman Kamala Harris

Ethan Miller/Getty Images, Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Kamala Harris appeared on the latest episode of SmartLess, a new podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes. During the interview, which was released the day before Harris was announced as Joe Biden’s running mate, Bateman asked about the legal possibilities of removing President Donald Trump from office prior to the November election. The Democratic vice presidential candidate seemed more determined to just defeat Trump this November.

While discussing Trump’s interference with the U.S. Postal Service, which Bateman described as “brazen voter suppression,” the actor asked, “Why do we have to take it? Is there some sort of countermeasure that we can do absent waiting until November? Like, can we even make it there?” The Arrested Development star then referenced the 25th Amendment, by which a majority of the Cabinet may declare a president unfit for office and instate the vice president in his place.

“What else would they need to see?” asked Bateman, who believes Trump should have been removed from office long ago. “He’s disassembling these federal departments. There’s this outrageous economic disaster. He’s committing this political suicide for himself, for his party and obviously overseeing the death of, what, like one American a minute? What else would you write in some horrible fantasy about what would need to be on the plate that would motivate a 25th Amendment? I just don’t get it.”

Harris agreed with Bateman’s assessment of Trump’s failures as president, but the vice presidential candidate explained why invoking the 25th Amendment doesn’t seem realistic at this time. “What you’re speaking to is what we designed as the checks and balances in our government,” said Harris, “so that where there was abuse of power by any one branch, there would be a commensurate check on that abuse of power.” She added, “One could argue though that we’ve been in the midst of a congressional crisis in that those checks and balances have not been reinforced.”

Harris went on to describe what she perceives as an “abject abuse of power by the executive branch and this president, Donald Trump.” As for why Congress “has not held him accountable,” the vice presidential nominee said, “It takes both the House and the Senate to do a lot of things that actually would enforce that accountability and right now the Senate is being run by a bunch of folks who are doing his bidding.”

After Harris went on to say that the November election is the best bet of removing Trump from the White House, Bateman referenced the coronavirus death toll in the United States, responding, “We’re gonna lose another 150,000 people by then.” Harris, however, believes the potential for lowering those numbers “also rests in the greatest power in our country, which is the people.” She continued, “That means getting people registered to vote, it means emphasizing early voting because I am concerned about the manipulations of the U.S. Postal Service. We don’t want ballots being counted weeks after the election because it’s predictable that this guy will create incredible chaos.”

Listen below to Harris’ full interview on this week’s episode of SmartLess. The discussion about Trump and the 25th Amendment starts around the 11:15 mark.

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