CNN’s Jake Tapper Confronts Cassidy Hutchinson for Sticking With Trump After Jan. 6 Riot: ‘You Still Went To Work’

CNN anchor Jake Tapper confronted Cassidy Hutchinson for sticking with then-President Donald Trump even after the deadly January 6 riot, asking her how it is she “still went to work” after that day.

Hutchinson is the former top aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and bombshell January 6 committee witness who has embarked on a media tour to promote her upcoming book “Enough” — which included a stop on Tuesday’s edition of The Lead for a well-researched grilling by Tapper.

Although he kept a sympathetic demeanor, Tapper did not shy away from tough questions — including an exchange in which he confronted her for remaining in Trump’s camp and employ after the deadly attack:

TAPPER: So, on the morning of January 7, you still went to work.

HUTCHINSON: I did.

TAPPER: And this is one of the things that I think that some of your critics on the left or never-Trumpers who are Republicans say.

Like, you see your friend Alyssa Griffin, Alyssa Farah Griffin, go on TV, she’s denouncing January 6, Sarah Matthews, Stephanie Grisham, Secretary DeVos, Secretary Chao, others resigned that day. Secretary Mnuchin, you write in your book, was considering invoking the 25th Amendment.

You continued to work there. Tell me why you went back, because, obviously, you feel very passionately about this, and you have been very brave in your testimony. But you still on January 7 went back to work.

HUTCHINSON: No, I did.

And I wish I had a glossy and short cookie-cutter answer for you, Jake, but it’s something that I still struggle with to this day. But I will say — and I would like to also reference what Alyssa did on that day, Alyssa Farah Griffin.

I remember sitting in the office. And I was very outspoken on January 6 and every day after that I strongly disagreed with what happened.

TAPPER: Right, internally, yes.

HUTCHINSON: Correct. Correct, internally.

But when I saw Alyssa on TV that day, it was this moment for me where I sort of felt that split, because, on one hand, I was very upset with her.

You know, she was one of my closest friends. And I was upset with her for a variety of reasons. But the one that I think is the most potent for this conversation is, I felt that she — what she did that day was disloyal.

TAPPER: Right.

HUTCHINSON: And saying that now, with the hindsight and the experience that I have had sounds ludicrous. But —

TAPPER: Well, but it’s an honest answer. I appreciate that.

HUTCHINSON: But it is.

And — but I — and I think that’s the important part of this transformation period for me, because, on the other hand, when I saw her there, there was a little bit of envy. I was proud of her for doing what she felt that she had to be doing and for using her voice.

And I give Alyssa a lot of credit. I eventually came to her side, and she was the one that welcomes me. She was the first person that actually welcomed me and helped me get to this point. But I say all of this, Jake, because I did struggle with what I should do. I had committed to moving to Florida with the former president.

And, again, it’s that push-pull inside of me where, on one hand, I felt that January 6 happened because we, the staff, didn’t do enough to stop it, that we, the staff, should have not let people around him that would have stroked this desire for him to overturn the election on January 6.

TAPPER: Yes, you say in the book that you felt complicit.

HUTCHINSON: But I — correct, yes.

TAPPER: I mean, you’re honest about that.

HUTCHINSON: But then there’s this — there’s the other side of me where I was afraid to look disloyal.

I was afraid to split from the world, because, once you’re in that environment and have the access and have the insight and knowledge that you do, you sort of feel like there’s a target on your back. So, I did not move to Florida with him, but I stayed on payroll with him for several months after the end of the administration.

And I still had that — the moral dilemma inside of me through that whole period.

Watch above via CNN’s The Lead.