WATCH: Kristi Noem Slings Mud at Cassidy Hutchinson and Then Awkwardly Tries to Pivot to Gas Prices in Painful CNN Interview
Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) attacked the credibility of Jan. 6 Committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson on CNN Sunday, and then awkwardly tried to steer the conversation away from the subject.
Speaking with Dana Bash on this weekend’s edition of CNN’s State of the Union, the South Dakota governor trashed the House committee as “one-sided” — neglecting to mention that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) pulled Republicans from the panel. Noem then went on to impugn the credibility of Hutchinson, former top aide to ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
“It’s been difficult to really believe everything she has said,” Noem said. “She says she’s telling the truth, but much of it was hearsay and much of it other people have refuted now.”
Noem was referring to anonymously sourced reports that Bobby Engel — the head of former President Donald Trump’s Secret Service detail — and also a second agent who drove the president’s SUV limo on Jan. 6 were prepared to refute Hutchinson’s claim that Trump lunged for the steering wheel in an effort to go to the Capitol. But CNN later reported two Secret Service sources were prepared to corroborate Hutchinson’s testimony on this point.
Further, while that particular claim was secondhand, many of the other key portions of Hutchinson’s testimony involved statements she says she heard directly from Trump and Meadows — which CNN’s Dana Bash pointed out.
“Governor, what I just played was first-hand,” Bash said – referencing a soundbite she had just shown in which Hutchinson talked about Trump knowing the protesters were armed and encouraging them to march to the Capitol anyway.
“But her credibility was damaged when she talked about hearsay and then other people that she referenced said it absolutely wasn’t true,” Noem said.
The governor then abruptly tried to switch gears.
“I would prefer that we continue … when I go to the gas stations, when I’m working in South Dakota and I’m traveling to businesses and talking to families, their number one concern this Fourth of July weekend is going to be gas prices and food for their families.”
Bash then asked Noem, “Do you believe that President Trump bears any responsibility for what happened on January 6th?”
The governor waffled and refused to put any of the blame on Trump.
“I think January 6th was a horrific day in our history,” Noem said. “I never want to see that happen again. I think moving forward that we’ve got to have a time in our country where we are all start talking to each other again. Where we start having conversations. We get much better policy — I talk about this in my book, Dana — where I talk about the fact that we’ve become a country so offended by each other that we quit talking to each other. It’s hurting public debate that we have to have different perspectives around the table to have an open conversation, and we’ll end up with much better policy, better laws if we can take the emotion and anger and bitterness out of our conversation, and really talk about what is best for our country and where we can agree and move forward.”
“The question is whether President Trump bears any responsibility,” Bash said.
“I think we all need to examine this country is, and where we’re going,” said Noem — whose non-answer unintentionally served as a stark commentary on the state of the country.
Watch above, via CNN.
