WASHINGTON—The National Association of Manufacturers, a trade group representing businesses that contribute $2.35 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has called on Vice President Mike Pence to "seriously consider" working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.
NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons disclosed the group's stance Jan. 6 during the attack on the U.S. Capitol by large groups of "armed Trump adherents" as members of Congress met to count the electoral votes of the 2020 presidential election.
Timmons called the action sedition and said it "should be treated as such. 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, Timmons said. Anyone indulging conspiracy theories to raise campaign dollars is complicit.
"Armed violent protesters 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," Timmons said.