Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson called out the "cowardice" of Republican men who refuse to stand up in the face of former President Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, noting that the 2024 election is "so much bigger than a political party."
Speaking to MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski, who asked her why Republicans like her are "so few and far in between," Hutchinson said this reality "is something that perplexes me frequently."
She said:
“I don’t know why so many Republicans, specifically the men, are cloaking themselves in cowardice, especially in the face of Donald Trump and JD Vance. The Republican party is something that is completely unrecognizable to what it once was.”
“As time has passed and I’ve gained clarity of mind, not only am I still a conservative but I feel more confident and rooted in my conservative principles than when I worked for [Trump]. There are still good Republicans out there trying to salvage what is left of the party, but we need more people to step forward."
"To Republicans who may be on the fence, I understand how frightening it can be to potentially break with your party. I also understand there are concerns and very valid concerns about inflation."
But Donald Trump and J.D. Vance cannot be trusted with the Constitution. They cannot be trusted to uphold our rule of law and they can't be trusted to enact responsible policy. That in and of itself is disqualifying amongst many other things, some of them being that Donald Trump is also under federal and state indictments."
She noted:
"This is an election that is so much bigger than a political party ... which led to my decision to endorse Vice President Harris but Mr. Biden as well who displayed remarkable leadership in passing the torch to the next generation of leadership, which is something the Republican Party also cannot do."
"I'm really grateful for the leadership of people like Liz Cheney and Nancy Pelosi. I have a lot of faith in the future of our country but we do need to do more to get back from the current state of politics that we are now in."
You can hear what she said at 1:30 in the video below.
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Many appreciated her remarks and offered their own observations.
Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, made headlines in 2022 following her testimony before the House Select Committee tasked with investigating the January 6 insurrection.
Hutchinson offered further insight into Trump's mindset that day, notably he was aware of and supported the plan to attack the nation's seat of government.
According to Hutchinson, Trump was "angry" the Secret Service was not allowing people who had arrived armed with weapons into the event. The footage shows Trump saying he "would love it if they could be allowed to come up here with us."
Hutchinson also said she heard Trump say those in attendance were "not here to hurt me" and demanded his security people "Let my people in" so they could "march to the Capitol after the rally's over."
In perhaps her testimony's most striking moment, Hutchinson told the House Select Committee a Secret Service agent told her Trump had gotten into a physical altercation when he attempted to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limousine.
By Hutchinson's recollection, the Secret Service agent said Trump had wanted to go to the Capitol and have a front row seat to the attack, further underscoring how he had incited the violence that left at least five people dead and resulted in over 100 injuries to law enforcement and millions of dollars in damages.
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