“I was surprised to hear the president say that. Of course there were people who were behaving, and there were people who were absolutely not, but to go out and say that everyone was fine and that there was no risk, this is just false – people died , other people were seriously injured, “Mulvaney told CNN’s Pamela Brown in the Newsroom.
“It is not right to say that there was no risk, I do not know how to say it when people were killed,” he added.
“It was a zero threat, from the beginning, it was a zero threat. Look, they came in, they shouldn’t have come. Some came in and are hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know, they had great relationships, “Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.” A lot of people got a signal to get in, and then they got in and out. “
Still, Mulvaney said he would “absolutely vote” for Trump if he won the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
“I think the most interesting question is what the Republican primaries look like,” said Mulvaney, “and no one knows, up to and including, I believe, the president. I absolutely believe that the president has not yet decided, and probably will not do it for a long period of time, maybe even after the primaries start in 2024, so it’s still a long way off. “
Mulvaney acknowledged, however, that if Trump ran again, he would probably have to answer for the January 6 events.
“He is still an important player in the Republican Party – there are many people who have been discouraged in the past six weeks, and especially the unrest, that he will have to do some work to build bridges back, if he wants to run again.”
CNN DJ Judd, Veronica Stracqualursi and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.