Some staff members of the president and the first lady, as well as administration officials, are resigning specifically because of the violence in the Capitol on Wednesday.
Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney announced his resignation as special envoy to Northern Ireland, citing the riots at the Capitol.
“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’s “Squawk Box.”
Mulvaney said he made the decision after speaking with his family Wednesday evening and suggested there may be more resignations to follow.
“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. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of my friends resign over the course of the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Matthew Pottinger, deputy national security adviser, also resigned in the wake of the unrest at the U.S. Capitol, according to one of the president’s advisers.
Also, Stephanie Grisham, first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff and a former press secretary to the president, resigned Wednesday. Grisham did not specifically cite the riots at the Capitol, but Reuters claims she told friends she was leaving because of the violence.
Two top aides to first lady Melania Trump also resigned on Wednesday. Stephanie Grisham resigned as chief of staff to the first lady.
“It has been an honor to serve the country in the White House. I am very proud to have been a part of Mrs. Trump’s mission to help children everywhere, and proud of the many accomplishments of this administration,” Grisham said in a statement.
Grisham, who spent a year as White House press secretary before becoming chief of staff to the first lady, did not say whether her resignation was in reaction to the violence, but a source familiar with her decision said it was the last straw.
The White House social secretary, Rickie Niceta, also resigned, as did a deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews, two sources told Reuters.
How many are resigning because they fear the consequences to their careers and how many are resigning based on principle? Public officials at every level tend to blur the lines between the two, making it difficult to say what their motives are. If these executive employees are worried about their future careers, they should have thought about that before signing on.
The rush to “cancel” anyone and everyone even tangentially connected to Donald Trump is on and won’t stop until the purges satisfy the raging bloodlust of the anti-Trump crowd. The flight attendants’ union wants to ban protesters who attended the rally yesterday from flying — even if they weren’t involved in the Capitol assault. The New York Times wants to hold business people who “enabled” Trump to account for the violence. Current and former Trump administration officials will be blackballed from San Francisco to Kalamazoo and beyond.
This is what happens in banana republic countries, not great big grown-up democracies. Guilt by association is an ugly, undemocratic belief and we’re going to see a lot of it over the next few years.
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