Mick Mulvaney resigns after Capitol siege: ‘I can’t stay’
Mick Mulvaney, former White House chief of staff and current special envoy to Northern Ireland, announced he is stepping down in what appears to be the latest in a stream of resignations following the chaos that was unleashed at the US Capitol by supporters of President Trump.
“I called [Secretary of State] Mike Pompeo last night to let him know I was resigning from that. I can’t do it. I can’t stay,” Mulvaney told CNBC in an interview Thursday.
“Those who choose to stay, and I have talked with some of them, are choosing to stay because they’re worried the president might put someone worse in,” Mulvaney said.
Already, several White House staffers — including Stephanie Grisham, first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff, and deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews — have said they would step down.
White House social secretary Rickie Niceta and deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger also reportedly stepped down Wednesday.
Other resignations reportedly include: Ryan Tully, a senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council, John Costello, deputy secretary of Commerce, and Tyler Goodspeed, acting chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
“We didn’t sign up for what you saw last night. We signed up for making America great again, we signed up for lower taxes and less regulation. The president has a long list of successes that we can be proud of,” Mulvaney said in the interview.
“But all of that went away yesterday and I think you’re right to ask the question as to how did it happen.”
Mobs of Trump supporters overran the US Capitol on Wednesday as a joint session of Congress took up certification of the Electoral College process that gave President-elect Joe Biden the necessary votes to win the presidency.
A number of Republican senators and House members challenged the results.
Following several hours of interruption because of the assault on the Capitol, Congress reconvened and certified the results early Thursday.
Shortly after, Trump also released a statement through his communications adviser Dan Scavino that he is committed to an “orderly transition” on Jan. 20.
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” the statement said.
Mulvaney said the mayhem wreaked on the US Capitol will leave an indelible stain on Trump’s legacy and diminish his accomplishments.
“The folks who spent time away from our families, put our careers on the line to go work for Donald Trump, and we did have those successes to look back at but now it will always be, ‘Oh yeah, you work for the guy who tried to overtake the government,’” Mulvaney said.
“That legacy is gone as of yesterday and that’s extraordinarily disappointing to those of us who work for him,” he continued.