Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner skip town after her father called himself ‘the Second Coming’

Ivanka Trump has come under fire for failing to intervene to stop her father’s explosive comments about Jewish loyalty – even as a top Democrat called for a ‘clinical intervention’ to address the president’s public ‘meltdown.’

The first daughter, who converted to Judaism when she married Jared Kushner, did not attend the White House during a Medal of Freedom ceremony for Boston Celtics great Bob Cousy Thursday. 

Neither was Kushner, who was at the White House Wednesday and met with the president before Trump doubled down on previous remarks and said Jews who voted for Democrats were being ‘disloyal’ to Israel and other Jewish Americans. 

Kushner was previously a Democrat and his brother, Joshua Kushner, is a registered Democrat. The Kushner family has long promoted Israel and backed settlements there. The couple are both Orthodox Jews. 

Kushner traveled to New York, where he was to speak Thursday at a Milken Institute event. He was accompanied by his wife, according to an administration official. Kushner is slated to go with the president to France this weekend for the G7 meeting. 

The power couple are often under pressure from critics who want them to use their influence to try to get the president to dial back some of his controversial positions. A CNN headline declared them ‘publicly missing in action again.’ 

First daughter Ivanka Trump faced criticism for failing to restrain her father’s remark that Jews who vote for Democrats are ‘disloyal.’ She converted to Judaism when she married Jared Kushner

Their absence came as CNN host Anderson Cooper delivered a sarcastic monologue where he ripped the president’s daughter, saying she must be ‘very proud of her dad’ – who was unusually quiet Thursday and uncharacteristically restrained online.

“Ivanka Trump must be very proud of her dad tonight,” Cooper intoned Wednesday evening on his show. “And you can probably just watch for an Ivanka leak in the coming days about how she tried to talk her father, you know, to change that kind of language. It’s a classic Ivanka move,’ he mocked. 

Aaron David Miller, who has advised numerous presidents of both parties on Middle East policy, pounced on Twitter: ‘Trump’s pro-Israeli policies; his son-in-law’s Judaism; his daughter’s conversion cannot mask his shameful effort to weaponize one of the antisemitism’s primary tenets – disloyalty. Opportunism, politics and Trump’s prejudiced views of Jews mix easily in a nasty witches brew,’ he said.   

The couple, who both serve as senior advisors to the president, have long chafed at expectations they take on the president in public, amid expectations from Trump critics that they operate as a moderating influence.  

The focus on Ivanka and Jared’s whereabouts and calls for them to confront the president over his statements about Jews came as the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus called for the Trump family to take part in a ‘clinical intervention.’

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York also called for the cabinet members to take action to declare President Trump unfit to serve. Jeffries made the plea online late Wednesday night, hours after President Trump declared himself ‘the chosen one’ to take on China, after retweeting praise from a conspiracy theorist who said he is the ‘king of Israel’ and the ‘chosen one.’ 

‘This guy is having a complete and total meltdown,’ Jeffries tweeted at 10:30 pm Wednesday. ‘The sycophants in the cabinet lack the guts to deploy the 25th Amendment. Will his family have the good sense to engineer a clinical intervention? We can only hope,’ he wrote.

President Trump called himself the 'chosen one' to take on China Wednesday and explained the collapse of his effort to buy Greenland, prompting a Twitter trend for #25thamendmentnow

President Trump called himself the ‘chosen one’ to take on China Wednesday and explained the collapse of his effort to buy Greenland, prompting a Twitter trend for #25thamendmentnow

Jeffries joined the fray as the hashtag #25thamendmentnow was trending on Twitter. By accusing Trump’s cabinet of lacking fortitude, he was needling them to take action to vote to declare Trump unfit to serve – in a constitutional move designed for when a president is incapacitated or otherwise unfit. 

Jeffries didn’t explain what he meant by a family clinical intervention. Trump has decided to run for reelection, and has been aggressively campaigning around the country, while attacking political rivals.

On Wednesday, in another remark blasted by critics, Trump accused Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats of being ‘disloyal’ to Israel and fellow Jews. Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, who is Jewish, blasted the president for using the ‘trope’ of dual loyalty, which has been used to target Jews for centuries. 

Under the 25th Amendment, In a case where a president resists, the matter gets thrown to the Congress, making it a highly unlikely gambit. 

That is an argument that Jeffries and others have been making against impeachment, where even if the House were to act, the effort would almost certainly die in the Republican-controlled Senate. 

Jeffries wants the Trump family to have the 'good sense' to intervene. First lady Melania Trump is pictured

Jeffries wants the Trump family to have the ‘good sense’ to intervene. First lady Melania Trump is pictured

'This guy is having a complete and total meltdown,' Democratic Caucus chair Rep. Hakeem Jeffries tweeted

‘This guy is having a complete and total meltdown,’ Democratic Caucus chair Rep. Hakeem Jeffries tweeted

Jeffries said cabinet members lack the 'guts' to invoke the 25th Amendment

Jeffries said cabinet members lack the ‘guts’ to invoke the 25th Amendment

Jeffries said Trump family members should stage a clinical intervention on Trump. Here Pope Francis meets President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and delegation at the Apostolic Palace on May 24, 2017 in Vatican City, Vatican

Jeffries said Trump family members should stage a clinical intervention on Trump. Here Pope Francis meets President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and delegation at the Apostolic Palace on May 24, 2017 in Vatican City, Vatican

Jeffries pointed to Trump calling himself the 'chosen one' and tweeting about being the 'King of Israel'

Jeffries pointed to Trump calling himself the ‘chosen one’ and tweeting about being the ‘King of Israel’

Twitter users immediately noted that the impeachment mechanism is one Jeffries has so far rejected. He has not signed onto the drive to begin an impeachment investigation, although a majority of his caucus (127) now has. 

Like Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Jeffries wants existing investigations to continue before committing to an impeachment path.  During former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s House testimony, Jeffries tried to grill him to get Mueller to admit that Trump’s actions could meet the definition of Obstruction of Justice.

A hashtag about the Constitution’s 25th Amendment was trending on Twitter Wednesday after a landmark day where  President Donald Trump called himself the ‘chosen one’ to take on China and lashed out at the prime minister of Norway after his idea of buying Greenland collapsed. 

Celebrity Nancy Sinatra, lawyer George Conway, and relatively unknown Twitter users joined in the fray, on a day when the president blasted out a glowing accolade from a conspiracy theorist who said Israeli Jews considered him the ‘second coming.’ 

Conway, the husband of counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, tagged a tweet to his 642,000 followers: ‘So, Mr. Vice President, members of the Cabinet, members of Congress, what’s it going to take for you all to acknowledge what you and we all know: that the President of the United States is mentally unstable and unfit to serve?’

Conway also tweeted out a psychological ‘word of the day’ – ‘decompensation,’ defined as ‘a breakdown in an individual’s defense mechanisms’ leading to loss of function. 

Former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson, who Trump nominated to run the Veterans Affairs Department but who withdrew after his nomination was imperiled, declared Trump in ‘excellent’ mental and physical condition after he took office.

But that didn’t take Twitter users from reaching their own diagnoses, on a day when Trump began by quoting Wayne Allen Root, who has backed numerous conspiracy theories, and who said Israeli Jews love Trump ‘like he is the second coming of God.’

Later in the day, Trump looked to the sky as he defended his unique role confronting China, saying he was ‘the chosen one.’ He also blasted comments by the Danish prime minister after she blasted his proposal to buy Greenland, calling it absurd and saying it was not for sale. 

By 6 pm, #25thAmendmentnow had 110,000 tweets. ‘Chosen One’ had 144,000 and ‘King of Israel’ had 162,000. 

The 25th amendment came up in 2017 after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey and former DOJ official Rod Rosenstein brought it up in what he claims was a joking manner

The 25th amendment came up in 2017 after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey and former DOJ official Rod Rosenstein brought it up in what he claims was a joking manner

The hashtag #25thAmendmentNow was trending on Twitter

The hashtag #25thAmendmentNow was trending on Twitter

Lawyer George Conway called on the vice president and cabinet to take action

Lawyer George Conway called on the vice president and cabinet to take action

The unusual comments came in sequence Wednesday

The unusual comments came in sequence Wednesday

Wrote Twitter user Ryan Knight, whose handle is @ProudResister: ‘When the president of the United States starts declaring that he is: “The King of Israel, ‘The Chosen One,’ ‘The Second coming of God,’ It means he is out of his goddamn mind & it’s time for the #25thAmendmentNow.’

That hashtag was trending in the afternoon. 

The 25th Amendment gives a special role to the vice president. Under it, the VP and the cabinet, if they vote by a majority, can write Congress saying the president is unable to discharge his office. A two thirds vote in each chamber would be required to remove him.

As it happens, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley sent out an odd tweet about Pence Wednesday.  

Wrote Haley: ‘Enough of the false rumors. Vice President Pence has been a dear friend of mine for years. He has been a loyal and trustworthy VP to the President. He has my complete support,’ she said. 

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley called out 'false rumors' about Mike Pence in a tweet she did not otherwise explain. The vice president has a role outlined in the 25th Amendment process

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley called out ‘false rumors’ about Mike Pence in a tweet she did not otherwise explain. The vice president has a role outlined in the 25th Amendment process

Trump on Wednesday repeated his earlier claim that Jews who vote for Democrats are ‘disloyal.’ 

Said Trump: ‘In my opinion you vote for a Democrat you’re being very disloyal to Jewish people and you’re being very disloyal to Israel, and only weak people would say anything other than that.’

WHAT DOES THE 25TH AMENDMENT SAY? CAN TRUMP’S CABINET REALLY TOPPLE HIM?

The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution deals with presidential authority in the event of death or removal from office, and was ratified in 1967, in the wake of John F Kennedy’s assassination.

What does the 25th Amendment say?

It is in four sections, all dealing with the president leaving office during his or her elected term. 

The first section states that the vice president takes over the Oval Office if the president dies or resigns – or is removed – something which the original Constitution did not clearly state.

Presidents of course can be removed by impeachment, a feature of the constitution from the start. They can also be removed through the 25th Amendment – of which more below.

Section II states that if the vice president dies, or resigns – or is fired – both the House and Senate have to confirm a new vice president. Until 1967, presidents could change vice presidents mid-term on their own if they got the vice president to agree to resign – not something that actually happened, but which was possible in principle.

Section III makes clear that the a president can temporarily delegate his powers to the vice president, and later reclaim them when he – or she – is capable of serving. This is most often invoked if a president is under the influence of surgical anesthetic for a short period of time. 

Section IV is the amendment’s most controversial part: it describes how the president can be removed from office if he is incapacitated and does not leave on his own.

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’ must write to both the president pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, saying that ‘the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.’

The term principal officers of the executive departments would normally would mean the cabinet secretaries.

So at least eight of the president’s 15 most senior Cabinet members, who , together with the vice president, must agree that a president should be removed before any plan can move forward.

Notifying the House Speaker and the Senate president pro tempore is the act that immediately elevates the vice president to an ‘acting president’ role.

The deposed president can contest the claim, giving the leaders of the bloodless coup four days to re-assert their claims to the House and Senate. 

Congress then has two days to convene – unless it is already in session – and another 21 days to vote on whether the president is incapable of serving. A two-thirds majority in both houses is required to make that determination.

As soon as there is a vote with a two-thirds majority, the president loses his powers and is removed, and the vice president stops acting and is sworn in as president.

But if 21 days of debate and votes ends without a two-thirds majority, the president gets back his powers.

What could happen to trigger the 25th Amendment?

Vice President Mike Pence and eight of the 15 ‘principal’ Cabinet members would have to agree to notify Congress that President Donald Trump was incapable of running the country.

That group is made up of the Secretary of State, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of Defense , Attorney General, Interior Secretary, Agriculture Secretary, Commerce Secretary, Labor Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretary, Transportation Secretary, Energy Secretary , Education Secretary, Veterans Affairs Secretary and Homeland Security Secretary.

Their formal notification would go to the House Speaker and, in the senate, to the ‘president pro tempore’, the Senate’s most senior member. As soon as the letter is sent, Pence would become ‘acting president.’

Alternatively, Congress could set up its own mechanism to decide if he is fit for office – maybe a commission, or a joint committee. Pence would still have to agree with its conclusion and then write formally to the Speaker and president pro tempore.

Or another possibility is that the pool of ‘principal officers’ is considered to be bigger than the 15 and a majority of that group call Trump incapable.

What if Trump does not agree?

If Trump claims he is capable of holding office, he would write to the House Speaker and the president pro tempore of the Senate within four days, setting up three weeks of intense debate in both houses of Congress.

Trump would be removed from office if both two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate agreed with Pence and his cabal. 

If either of both chambers fell short of that mark, Trump would retain his powers and likely embark on a wholesale housecleaning, firing Pence and replacing disloyal Cabinet members.

Are there any loopholes?

The 25th Amendment allows Congress to appoint its own panel to evaluate the president instead of relying on the Cabinet – the men and women who work most closely with Trump – to decide on  a course of action.

It specfies that some ‘other body as Congress may by law provide’ could play that role, but Pence would still need to agree with any finding that the president is incapable of discharging his duties.

If Democrats were to take over both the House and Senate, they could create such a panel with simple majority votes. 

That commission could hypothetically include anyone from presidential historians to psychiatrists, entrusted to assess the president’s fitness for office. 

Another loophole is that it does not spell out that the Cabinet is needed to agree, but says that the ‘principal officers’ of the departments are needed. That term is undefined in the constitution. In some departments legislation appears to name not just the secretary but deputies and even undersecretaries as ‘principal officers’, so many more people could be called in to the assessment of Trump’s fitness. 

Could Trump fire Pence if he rebelled?

Yes, in principle.  If Trump smelled a whiff of trouble – if Pence and a cabal of Cabinet members, or Pence and a panel assembled by Congress seemed ready to judge him incapacitated – he could dismiss his vice president with the stroke of a pen to stop the process.

But installing a more loyal VP could be problematic since the 25th Amendment includes its own poison pill: Both houses of Congress must vote to approve a new vice president.

That means Trump would find himself up against the same Congress that would vote on his fitness for office, unless the process were to unfold in the weeks before a new Congress.

Theoretically, a Democratic-controlled Congress could make life dramatically more difficult for the president if it came into power in the midst of the constitutional crisis. 

One scenario has appeared to stump presidential historians, however: Firing Pence before the process is underway, and then leaving the vice presidency vacant, would give Congress no practical way forward. That would present its own constitutional crisis.

Is there any precedent for this?

No.  Only Section III, the voluntary surrender of presidential powers, has ever been used – and only very briefly.

In December 1978, President Jimmy Carter thought about invoking Section III when he was contemplating a surgical procedure to remove hemorrhoids. 

Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush both voluntarily relinquished their powers while undergoing procedures under anesthetic. 

Section IV has also never been invoked, although there have been claims that Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff Donald Regan told his successor, Howard Baker,  in 1987 that he should be prepared to invoke it because Reagan was inattentive and inept.

The PBS documentary ‘American Experience’ recounts how Baker and his team watched Reagan closely for signs of incapacity during their first meeting and decided he was in perfect command of himself.  

He added: ‘If you vote for a Democrat, you’re very, very disloyal to Israel and to the Jewish people.’ 

Trump told Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams at an event in Kentucky Wednesday: ‘That was a big day, Medal of Honor. Nothing like the Medal of Honor,’ recalling the ceremony.

He added: ‘I wanted one, but they told me I don’t qualify, Woody. I said, ‘Can I give it to myself anyway?’ They said, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’”

The medal is usually given out in a solemn ceremony. Trump did not serve in Vietnam and received multiple deferments.  

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