Sen. Blunt calls Trump’s actions ‘reckless,’ but says president should not resign
Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” said he doesn’t believe Donald Trump should resign, despite calling the president’s recent actions “reckless.”
Blunt’s interview Sunday came four days after a violent mob, hoping to keep Trump in office, stormed the U.S. Capitol, bludgeoned a police officer who later died, and sent members of Congress hiding as tear gas filled the historic building.
“I think the president’s decisions and his actions that day and leading up to that day on this topic were clearly reckless,” Blunt said when asked if Trump is a danger to the country. “I said that very early in the evening on Wednesday, that this was a tragic day for the country and the president had some, had involvement in that.”
When asked if Trump should resign, the Republican congressman, who is chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies as well as outgoing chairman of one of the two committees investigating Wednesday’s attack at the Capitol, said it would be up to the president.
”My view would be what the president should do is now finish the last 10 days of his presidency,” he said.
He advised that Trump behave carefully over the next 10 days.
“Now, my personal view is that the president touched the hot stove on Wednesday and is unlikely to touch it again,” Blunt said. “And if that’s the case, I think ... every day, we get closer to the last day of his presidency. We should be thinking more about the first day of the next presidency than the last day of his presidency, in my view.”
He also voiced skepticism that impeaching the president and removing him from office before Jan. 20, the day of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, would happen.
In the days before the attack, Blunt, a former Missouri secretary of state, opposed Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley’s effort to oppose certification of the 2020 presidential election.
Asked Sunday if Hawley was complicit in trying to change the outcome of the election, Blunt did not answer but instead said “I wasn’t interested then or now in spending a lot of time on things that can’t happen.”
The day of the attack, Blunt condemned the violence.
“The events unfolding at the Capitol are shameful,” he said Wednesday. “There is no justification for violence and destruction. It has to stop now. This is not who we are as a nation. Thank you to the Capitol Police who are keeping us safe.”
Authorities on Sunday announced the death of a 51-year-old Capitol Police officer, though it was not clear whether his death was connected to Wednesday’s violence.
Two people familiar with the matter said the officer’s death was an apparent suicide, according to the Associated Press.
Days earlier, authorities announced that Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick had died from his injuries after he was reportedly bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher during Wednesday’s riot.
Blunt on Sunday expressed interest in reaching out to the relatives of both of the capitol officers who died, calling the storming of the Capitol “certainly something I thought I would never see.”
When asked if there is any indication that members of the Capitol Police where involved with or complicit in the attack, Blunt said no.
“I resent any sense that the Capitol Police didn’t push back, fight back valiantly get out there and stand between first the building and then the people in the building that they’re there to protect,” he said.
But, he noted that thought should be given as to why the National Guard did respond more quickly to the attack.
“It was a sad and terrible day in the history of the country,” Blunt said.
This story was originally published January 10, 2021 at 3:29 PM.
