SC Rep. Mace: ‘Biden is a national security risk,’ calls for cabinet to invoke 25th Amendment

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Isle of Palms, said the president’s cabinet needs to step in and have the vice president assume the duties as acting president for the sake of national security.

Mace’s comments came after President Joe Biden announced Sunday he would step aside from the Democratic nomination for president in this year’s election.

In a Zoom call with reporters Monday morning, Mace discussed her planned resolution to call on Vice President Kamala Harris, the favorite to secure the Democratic nomination for president, to invoke the 25th Amendment.

“Joe Biden, I believe, is a national security risk,” Mace said in the call.

The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows a majority of the president’s cabinet and vice president to write to Congress that the president is unable to discharge the duties of the office. The vice president would then take over in an acting capacity.

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Questions about whether Biden should stay in the race started and whether Biden can still do the job at his age to grow louder after his poor debate performance on June 27.

Mace’s resolution is in the same spirit as other Republicans calling on Biden to resign from the presidency because he chose to step aside from the presidential race.

“I don’t think you could ask him to drop out of the race because of his cognitive decline and then at the in the same breath, say, well, he’s good enough to be president,” Mace said. “If he’s good enough to be president, he’s good enough to run for reelection,but that’s not what we’re hearing.”

Kennedy Anderson, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, R-Santee, and staunch Biden ally, said Biden’s decision to not seek reelection has nothing to do with his ability to be president.

“He’s proven he’s a capable president,” Anderson said.

Clyburn also has called Mace’s resolution “pure theater” and an attempt to gain attention.

Among those joining the chorus of Republicans calling on Biden to resign were U.S. Reps. Russell Fry, R-Surfside Beach, William Timmons, R-Greenville and Joe Wilson, R-Springdale.

“Our country deserves strong and decisive leadership, especially in these challenging times,” Wilson said in a statement. “I join my colleagues in calling for President Biden’s immediate resignation for the sake our nation’s future and security.”

U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, on social media, loudly questioned Biden’s mental ability to finish his term.

“First, this is proof that we were lied to for years by the White House and mainstream media about the cognitive decline of this man,” Norman posted. ”He’s clearly not up to the job, and it wasn’t until that disastrous debate performance that they could no longer hide it from the American people.”

In Biden’s letter announcing his decision to step aside from the presidential race, he said that he would be able to concentrate only on the office of the presidency.

“While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote.