President Trump's former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has become the latest administration official to resign in the wake of Wednesday's Capitol riots.
Mulvaney told CNBC on Thursday he's leaving his "small job" as special envoy to Northern Ireland after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building to disrupt the certification of the election results, leaving four people dead.
"We didn't sign up for what you saw last night," Mulvaney told CNBC. "We signed up for making America great again, we signed up for lower taxes and less regulation. The president has a long list of successes that we can be proud of. But all of that went away yesterday, and I think you're right to ask the question as to 'how did it happen?'"
Several other officials have resigned following the attack on the Capitol, including Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger and Stephanie Grisham, first lady Melania Trump's chief of staff, and The Washington Post previously reported that "an array of top aides" was considering resigning. Early on Thursday, Trump issued a statement committing to an orderly transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden, which CNN reports was "issued in part to stanch a wave of resignations."
Mulvaney told CNBC he "wouldn't be surprised" to see more resignations, although he added that some officials are staying due to concerns over who Trump will replace them with.
"Those who choose to stay, and I have talked to a couple of them, are choosing to stay because they are concerned that the president might put someone in to replace them that could make things even worse,” Mulvaney said. "So I'm not condemning those who choose not to resign. I understand that. But I can't stay here. Not after yesterday." Brendan Morrow