What does it take to legally remove a president from office? According to a conservative Christian ‘prophet,’ if the popularity of President Joe Biden dips below a certain level, the Constitution allows the U.S. Congress and military to take over the government.
Is that true? Not at all. But when your entire worldview is built on a foundation of lies, what’s one more?
The claim was made by self-described Christian “prophet” Manuel Johnson of Mega Praise Ministries (who once claimed to ride a motorcycle with God).
Speaking with fellow “prophet” Julie Green on Friday, Johnson said Biden’s approval ratings had dipped to their lowest levels in his term (which is true), and that if they dipped even lower, it could lead to his immediate removal from office (which is a lie). Green agreed with him the entire way through.
JOHNSON: … If you listen, I said it, I’m sure Julie Green said it, and a few other prophets said it. We said it several months ago, that the population [Ed: He meant “popularity“] of this person in office right now is going to drindle [Ed: He meant “dwindle“].
GREEN: … Oh, his popularity? It already has. They keep falling. Oh yeah.
JOHNSON: Yes. Yes. It’s going to drindle. Now. This. What I’m saying right now is not a prophecy. These are constitutional facts. When a sitting president population—popularity—drops under 20%, the Congress and military can step in and make decisions. That’s all I’m gonna tell you. Wooooooo.
GREEN: And you know his popularity is propped up. He’s already… he’s already underneath that. I think they have them at like 38% right now, last time…
JOHNSON: So once it goes… 20% and under, that gives Congress a right, and the military a right, to step in and make decisions, and move a person out of a position. The only reason why that hasn’t happened yet is because the Number Two in charge [Ed: He meant Vice President Kamala Harris] is… worse than Number One...
Not only is that inaccurate, it’s so absurd, I can’t even tell you what tiny bit of accurate information Johnson is using as a basis for his wild inaccurate conspiracy.
There are only two ways to legally remove Biden from power in the middle of his term. Impeachment, which requires a majority of the House and a two-thirds vote of the Senate, and invoking the 25th Amendment, which requires confirmation by the Vice President and majority of Cabinet officials.
Even when Donald Trump was in office, most Republicans in the Senate wouldn’t dare vote against him, so neither House impeachment led to his removal from office. And even during Trump’s lame duck session, and the events of January 6, Cabinet officials were far too cowardly to invoke the 25th Amendment no matter how much they now admit they talked about it.
There is nothing in the Constitution about sheer popularity as a benchmark for any president. (Why would there be? These kinds of surveys weren’t even conducted until at least the 1930s.) Nor is there any line about which measure of popularity we would use. Is it just the approval rating? If so, which poll(s)? Who’s conducting them? What are the questions? (Gallup put Trump’s approval rating at 35% multiple times within his first year in office. That number is below where Biden is today. Manuel Johnson didn’t bother trying to make sense of that.)
It’s also a foolish idea. If a president is extremely unpopular, it’s bound to hurt his entire party in the next election. Theoretically, then, there’s already a way for the people to have their voices heard.
But all of this is an attempt to analyze a nonsense claim made by an unserious person talking to an extremely gullible guest. What’s troubling is that the livestream has already been seen by over 34,000 people as of this writing. Who knows how many of them falsely believe Johnson is telling them the truth?
(Thanks to Gary for the link)