Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) on Wednesday delivered a powerful speech from the floor of the House of Representatives in which he invoked American Revolution icon Thomas Paine to make the case for impeaching President Donald Trump.
"Thomas Paine, in his first of a series of pamphlets entitled 'The American Crisis,' published 243 years ago tomorrow, intoned that 'These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldiers and sunshine patriots will end this crisis, shrink from the service of their country... tyranny, like hell is not easily conquered,'" Clyburn said.
The congressman then pivoted to making the case against Trump.
"These words were written at a time when our Founders were rebelling against tyrannical rule," he said. "Today, we have a president who seems to believe he is a king or above the law."
Clyburn concluded his speech by returning to Paine's invocation.
"We must not be sunshine patriots today in our efforts to protect the Constitution upon which this great republic stands," he said. "While our fight is not in the trenches of battlefields, but in the hallowed halls of this Congress, our duty is no less patriotic."
Watch the video below.
