WASHINGTON – Mick Mulvaney, former chief of staff to President Donald Trump, told CNBC on Thursday that he resigned as US special envoy to Northern Ireland.
“I called [Secretary of State] Mike Pompeo last night to warn you that I was forgoing this. I can not do this. I can’t stay, “said Mick Mulvaney in an exclusive interview at” Squawk Box “.
“Those who chose to stay, and I talked to some of them, are choosing to stay because they are concerned that the president might put someone worse,” said Mulvaney. But he said other officials could step down after Wednesday’s US Capitol rebellion.
A government official confirmed to CNBC’s Eamon Javers that national security adviser Robert O’Brien was considering resigning because of the insurrection. O’Brien’s deputy, Matthew Pottinger, reportedly resigned. Stephanie Grisham, chief of staff to First Lady Melania Trump, and Sarah Matthews, deputy press secretary of the White House, resigned on Wednesday.
“We didn’t sign up for what you saw last night,” said Mulvaney. “We signed up to make 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.”
“But it all went away yesterday, and I think you’re right to ask the question ‘how did it happen?'” Said Mulvaney to CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Mulvaney added that Trump “was not the same as eight months ago”.
Trump supporters are in the armored vehicle of the U.S. Capitol Police while others take over the Capitol steps on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, while Congress works to certify the votes of the electoral college.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Trump, during a rally on Wednesday outside the White House, encouraged thousands of supporters to march to the Capitol to protest what has historically been a ceremonial procedure.
Trump returned to the White House after his speech. During the subsequent rebellion, Trump told his supporters in a tweeted video “you have to go home now”, but he did not condemn the violence and continued to falsely claim that he won the election. Later, Twitter removed that tweet and blocked the president’s account.
Mulvaney said the chaos in the United States Capitol, which forced Congress to halt the process to declare Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election, would overshadow the Trump administration’s achievements.
“People who spent time away from our families put our careers at risk to go to work for Donald Trump, and we had these successes to look back on, but now it will always be, ‘Oh yeah, you work for the guy who tried to get over the government, “said Mulvaney.
“That legacy is gone yesterday and it is extremely disappointing for those of us who work for it,” he added.
– Reuters contributed to this report.