Sen. Mazie Hirono Scoffs at Trump’s ‘Teleprompter’ Concession: He ‘Lied,’ ‘Did Not Take Any Responsibility’ for Capitol Attack
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) ain’t buying it.
President Donald Trump’s last-minute semi-concession, that is, which he posted on Twitter roughly 24 hours after all but inciting the rioters and insurrectionists who stormed and ransacked the Capitol in his name. The two-minute, low-energy speech, pre-taped in the White House, acknowledged that on Jan. 20th, “a new administration will be inaugurated.”
But in an appearance on CNN’s Erin Burnett Out Front, the Hawaii senator looked deeper on into the speech’s details — and Trump’s motives — and found a lot to be dislike.
“What was your reaction to what he said?” host Erin Burnett asked, alluding to the growing pressure to remove Trump either via the 25th Amendment or a House impeachment trial.
“It was very clear he was reading off of the prompter under extreme pressure. Once the prompter is gone and pressure is off he will go back to spewing lies,” Hirono said dismissively, before alluding to reports Trump rebuffed desperate requests to deploy the National Guard to regain control of the Capitol yesterday. “In the Teleprompter speech, he lied about deploying the National Guard. He will say one thing one day and next day he is doing something else. He needs the adulation of his supporters so much that I do not expect him to act normal for any length of time.”
Burnett then asked if Hirono thought it realistic to expect Vice President Mike Pence to lead a intra-White House effort to oust Trump via the 25th Amendment, which reports say he opposes.
“For all of the years that Pence has practically been the lapdog of the president and for all of the people that are around the president. We learned people have been enabling him for the last four years,” Hirono said. “Why would it surprise us to know they are not going to stand up to him at this point. They would have to grow a conscience. It would not be surprising that they do not do what I would call the patriotic thing is as they exit the door. You know, some of them are resigning: big deal. That is saving themselves. They are not doing the country any favors.”
“If Nancy Pelosi goes ahead with impeaching the president, I would welcome the chance to vote to convict him a second time,” Hirono added, laughing.
What most concerned Hirono about what Trump could do in the next two weeks if not ousted, Burnett asked.
“He may do and say other things to incite further violence and further mob action,” Hirono answered. “He did not take any responsibility for the role he played in what happened yesterday. I am concerned about what is going to happen during the inaugural ceremony, for example, and anything else that he might do militarily that could bring us to the brink of war.”
Watch the video above, via CNN.
