Fresh off of his resignation following the deadly insurrection at the Capitol that President Trump incited, former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney was swiftly called out by Twitter users on Sunday when he took no responsibility for enabling Trump throughout his time serving in the President’s administration.
Last week, Mulvaney joined a slew of Trump administration officials who decided to resign in light of the pro-Trump Capitol riots. In announcing he was stepping down as special U.S. envoy to Northern Ireland, Mulvaney told CNBC on Thursday that “we didn’t sign up for what you saw last night” and that Trump was “not the same as he was eight months ago.”
Mulvaney attempted to spout similar lines on Sunday when grilled on his role in enabling Trump to encourage his supporters to descend upon Washington D.C. on the day Congress was ratifying President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory, which ultimately led to the violent pro-Trump mob that breached the Capitol.
Pressed during an interview on “Fox News Sunday” on whether he feels any responsibility for enabling Trump, given how he served as the White House chief of staff for more than a year — a term that included telling reporters in 2019 to “get over it” when admitting Trump’s Ukraine quid pro quo — Mulvaney said that he believed that Trump “would leave in a presidential manner” when he wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in November.
Mulvaney further deflected by pointing fingers at Trump’s aides who “simply tell him what he wants to hear and reaffirm exactly what they think he wants them to say.”
“I’ve seen the president be presidential before and I know that he has the ability to do it. He did it every single day,” Mulvaney told Fox News. “I don’t know what’s different, if it’s different about him now, if it’s different about his advisers.”
Mulvaney played a similar game during his appearance on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, saying that Trump lacks “an ability to pivot” any of his opinions and has “not been the same” since losing the presidential election.
Mulvaney argued that he didn’t see the Capitol riots that Trump incited coming.
“People took him literally,” Mulvaney told MSNBC, referring to Trump. “I never thought I’d see that.”
Twitter users didn’t buy Mulvaney’s reasoning:
for fuck's sake https://t.co/bpFLKbEwzC
— Noah Berlatsky (@nberlat) January 10, 2021
Sick. Sick. https://t.co/T8mj8Wxa3F
— Jay Nordlinger (@jaynordlinger) January 10, 2021
My god the man is president of the United States https://t.co/Tn8FQ6deHO
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) January 10, 2021
I took him literally from day one, was attacked by his birthers in 2011, and was sneered at on TV in July 2015 when I predicted Trump would be GOP nominee. Many of us warned repeatedly – but too many of you loved your ratings, your tax cuts and your judges more and you still do. https://t.co/ET3KORLx6w
— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) January 10, 2021
Trump's enablers are now trying to save face after perpetuating years of hate, racism, violence, and lies—including the ultimate lie that our election was anything but free and fair.
This moment was entirely foreseeable. Skip the hollow words & TV interviews. Get him to resign. https://t.co/kecauOXXl8
— Katherine Clark (@RepKClark) January 10, 2021
WORDS MATTER. https://t.co/BANh64r18n
— Dr. Joanne Freeman (@jbf1755) January 10, 2021
This is what I mean when I say we need to see apologies.
Mulvaney says he didn’t think people would do this. But he was mistaken. So is he sorry? Is he asking for our forgiveness? Or is he just whining that we shouldn’t blame him? https://t.co/UyZ9XXFvhD
— Matthew Yglesias ? (@mattyglesias) January 10, 2021
He believed it because he wanted to believe it, not because there was one iota of evidence to support of this course of action. https://t.co/8H07mbVC3x
— Rachel Vindman (@natsechobbyist) January 10, 2021
At no point since starting his run for presidency has trump publicly stated belief in elections that might not go his way. He called 16 rigged, he called every bad poll fake, he rejected any responsibility for 2018’s trouncing and at no point did say he’d accept a loss this year. https://t.co/MSKMIKn7GB
— Jeremiah Oshan (@JeremiahOshan) January 10, 2021
"I think we all need to remember that there were days when Jeffrey Dahmer *didn't* eat someone." https://t.co/dxJRqbdwP0
— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) January 10, 2021
Wait wait…wait. Mulvaney has “seen the President be Presidential” “every day”. This isn’t even a good attempt at spin….like spin gotta be somewhat believable. https://t.co/LYiNW8PwjF
— Atima Omara (@atima_omara) January 10, 2021
I don’t have the stomach to watch people like Mick Mulvaney, who was complicit with Trump until literally, 4 days ago, get a platform on @MeetThePress or anywhere else. If you’ve enabled Trump for 4 yrs, you should wear a paper bag over your head and shut the hell up.
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) January 10, 2021
Mulvaney claims on @MeetthePress that it took the attack of Wednesday for him to see the actual truth about Trump. How stupid does he think Americans are?
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) January 10, 2021
Mick Mulvaney is trying rehab his reputation so he can raise money for his new hedge fund. He spun and lied for Trump when he said racist things or encouraged violence. We don't buy it @MickMulvaney. It's too late for your bullshit.
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) January 10, 2021
Mulvaney is right that John Kelly didn’t resign, he was fired. Also, Mulvaney didn’t resign, he was fired. Also they were both enablers of Trump and both are trying to whitewash their records at the last minute shamelessly.
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) January 10, 2021
The entire global system is designed to take the words of the President of the United States literally. I am sick and tired of this “he didn’t mean it” rhetoric whenever the President’s words lead to outcomes that are politically indefensible.
DJT told a mob to storm the Capitol
— Lou Paskalis ?? (@LouPas) January 10, 2021
This fills me with fury. Of course they took him literally. You’re supposed to be able to take the President of the United States literally! The problem was the enablers, like Mulvaney, who took him cynically. This is as much on them as on him. https://t.co/RIRWXZr1Om https://t.co/Foopjb7WGo
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) January 10, 2021
"People took the Bible literally. I never thought I'd see that," former Spanish Inquisition Chief of Staff says. https://t.co/kppYbaY5xz
— Scott Santens??♂️ (@scottsantens) January 10, 2021
