WASHINGTON – Mick Mulvaney, former chief of staff to President Donald Trump, told CNBC on Thursday that he resigned as U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland.
“I called [Secretary of State] Last night, Mike Pompeo let him know he was giving up on this. I can’t do that. I can’t stay, ”Mick Mulvaney said in an exclusive interview with“ Squawk Box ”.
“Those who choose to stay, and I’ve talked to some of them, choose to stay because they care about the president putting someone worse off,” Mulvaney said. But he said other officials could resign after Wednesday’s riots at the U.S. Capitol.
An administration official confirmed to CNBC’s Eamon Javers that National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien was considering resigning over the insurgency. O’Brien MP Matthew Pottinger has reportedly resigned. Stephanie Grisham, chief of staff to First Lady Melania Trump, and Sarah Matthews, the White House deputy press secretary, resigned Wednesday.
“We didn’t sign up for what you saw last night,” Mulvaney said. “We signed up to make the United States great again, we signed up to cut taxes and less regulation. The president has a long list of accomplishments we can be proud of.”
“But all of that disappeared yesterday, and I think you’re right when I ask you the question of‘ how did it happen? Mulvaney told Andrew Ross Sorkin of CNBC.
Mulvaney added that Trump “was not the same as he was eight months ago.”
Trump supporters are in the armored vehicle of the U.S. Capitol Police while others take the Capitol stairs on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress works to certify the votes of the polling station.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Trump, during a rally in front of the White House on Wednesday, encouraged thousands of supporters to march on the Capitol to protest what have historically been ceremonial processes.
Trump returned to the White House after his speech. During subsequent riots, Trump told supporters in a tweeted video “You have to go home now,” but he did not condemn the violence and went on to falsely claim he won the election. Subsequently, Twitter removed this tweet and blocked the president’s account.
Mulvaney said the chaos at the U.S. 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 outside of our families, started our careers to work for Donald Trump, and we had those successes to look back on, but now it will always be‘ Oh yeah, you work for the one guy who he tried to move the government forward, “Mulvaney said.
“This legacy has been gone since yesterday and this is extraordinarily disappointing for those of us who work for it,” he added.
– Reuters contributed to this report.