WHEN: Today, Thursday, January 7
WHERE: CNBC’s “Squawk Box”
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET) today, Thursday, January 7th. Following is a link to video on CNBC.com:
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/01/07/mick-mulvaney-resigns-as-envoy-northern-ireland.html.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
JOE KERNEN: STEVE. YOU MIGHT WANT TO WATCH, THAT KNOWS THE PRESIDENT WELL, AND WE’LL SEE WHAT HE HAS TO SAY WE WATCH IN SHOCK AS THE DEMONSTRATORS, PRO TRUMP DEMONSTRATORS STORMED THE CAPITOL IN THE MIDST OF A SACRED CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESS OUR NEXT GUEST, MICK MULVANEY IS ONE OF THE MANY VOICES WHO HAS CALLED ON THE PRESIDENT TO TAKE ACTION AND CONDEMN THE RIOTERS. BUT TWO MONTHS AGO, HE WROTE IN THE “WALL STREET JOURNAL” TRUMP WOULD CONCEDE GRACEFULLY IF HE LOST THE ELECTION FOR MORE ON HOW WE GOT HERE WE’RE JOINED BY MICK MULVANEY, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET. IF YOUR PREDICTION HAD BEEN RIGHT, MICK, THE SENATE MIGHT STILL BE IN THE GOP’S HANDS, AND THAT ISN’T WHAT HAPPENED
MICK MULVANEY: I THINK THAT’S RIGHT. NO ONE LIKES TO BE WRONG YOU ESPECIALLY DON’T WANT TO BE WRONG ON SOMETHING OF THE LEVEL OF IMPORT. THE TWEET YOU SAW DAN SCAVINO PUT OUT LAST NIGHT WHICH I CAN ONLY ASSUME WAS AUTHORIZED BY THE PRESIDENT, NOT TO BE AT ALL EXPECTED THAT DAN SCAVINO WOULD PUT OUT A TWEET ON HIS OWN OF SOMETHING OF THAT GRAVITY.THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN OUT SIX WEEKS AGO TO SAY LOOK, WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE THIS THERE WILL BE INVESTIGATIONS AFTER THE JANUARY 20th, BUT THERE WILL BE A SMOOTH TRANSITION OF POWER, WHAT SHOULD HAVE COME OUT SIX WEEKS AGO. YOU’RE RIGHT, I THINK THE REPUBLICANS WOULD CONTROL THE SENATE IF THAT HAD HAPPENED, AND CERTAINLY WE WOULD NOT HAVE HAD THAT EMBARRASSMENT, INTERNATIONAL TRAVESTY FROM LAST NIGHT. THAT’S A LITTLE BIT TOO LATE FROM THE PRESIDENT OVERNIGHT
KERNEN: WERE YOU SURPRISED AT HOW FAR — HOW DO YOU THINK IT HAPPENED WE’VE BEEN INUNDATED WITH A LOT OF THE PRESIDENT’S CHARACTER FLAWS, THEY’RE WELL KNOWN THAT WE HAVE SEEN OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS. HAVE YOU BEEN SURPRISED BY THE EXTENT OF HOW THOSE HAVE MANIFESTED THEMSELVES POST ELECTION
MULVANEY: YEAH, TWO THINGS I THINK CAUGHT ME AS I WAS WATCHING YESTERDAY, NUMBER ONE, THE PRESIDENT HAD ALWAYS UNTIL THE PAST HAD SORT OF, YOU KNOW, THROWN OUT HYPERBOLIC IDEAS, SAY SOMETHING IN A MEETING, WHY WON’T WE DO X, AND EVERYBODY THAT’S A BRIDGE TOO FAR. NO MR. PRESIDENT, THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS. HE THINKS OUT LOUD, THAT’S WHAT HE DOES. THAT’S ONE OF HIS MANNERISMS WHAT I THINK YOU SAW YESTERDAY WAS THE RESULT OF AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT GROUP OF ADVISERS INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE INSTEAD OF SAYING MR. PRESIDENT, LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT, OH, YEAH, THAT’S A GREAT IDEA, MR. PRESIDENT. YOU’VE GOT FOLKS LIKE PETER NAVARRO, LYNNWOOD, AND RUDY GIULIANI IN THE INNER CIRCLE IN THE WHITE HOUSE RIGHT NOW AND SAW A MANIFESTATION OF THAT. THAT WAS MUCH DIFFERENT THAN I EXPECTED THE THING WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT AS A COUNTRY, THERE WAS A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE, A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE YESTERDAY WHO WERE WILLING TO DO THIS, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WENT ON STAGE AND SAID GO MARCH DOWN THE STREET, AND INVADE THE CAPITOL, AND THEY DID. THAT’S WHAT STUNNED ME BECAUSE THAT WAS NOT THE GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT WAS WORKING WITH THE PRESIDENT WHEN I WAS THERE THE PRESIDENT NEVER ASKED US TO DO ANYTHING UNETHICAL OR CERTAINLY ILLEGAL, AND IF HE HAD, WAIT A SECOND, STOP, WE’RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT FOR SOME REASON, THERE’S A GROUP OF PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY, AND A LARGE SECTION OF THIS COUNTRY THAT IS SO ANGRY AND DISCONNECTED THAT THEY WERE WILLING TO DO THAT YESTERDAY, AND I THINK THAT’S AS MUCH OF THE STORY FROM YESTERDAY AS THE PRESIDENT IF NOT MORE SO. THE COUNTRY IS MUCH MORE DIVIDED THAN I EXPECTED. I NEVER THOUGHT, I HAD DINNER LAST NIGHT WITH MY CHILDREN, I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE THE DAY WHEN AMERICAN CITIZENS WOULD…
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