Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah: Trump is 'directly responsible' for Capitol riots
Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah rebuked President Trump over this week's Capitol riots in a new interview, calling him "directly responsible."
Farah, who resigned as White House communications director in December, in an interview with Politico described the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol building this week as a "boiling point showing that misleading the public has consequences," and she placed blame on Trump for his repeated false claims that he won the 2020 election.
"I certainly fault the protesters — frankly, we should call them terrorists, but I fundamentally fault our elected leadership who allowed these people to believe that their election was stolen from them," Farah said. "The president and certain advisors around him are directly responsible."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Farah went on to say that Trump "could have saved lives" with a "strong, declarative, forceful statement" condemning the violence on Wednesday, but instead, he "allowed lives to be put in danger." She also told Politico that despite Trump's false claims that the election was fraudulent, the results shouldn't have been a surprise seeing as they "almost perfectly aligned" with internal polling — and Trump himself realized he lost in November.
"When I was still in the White House in late November, he knew that he had lost," she said of Trump. "And it was something that was almost like tacitly acknowledged, like we're going to make this painful, but we know what happened. And then, something turned. And I don't know if it was the wrong advisers getting to him with bad information or what."
While it's unclear whether Trump might attempt another run for the White House, Farah said she wouldn't support him "at this time" because "our country needs something different." Still, asked whether she still respects the president, she responded, "I do." Read the full interview at Politico.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Saudi Arabia could become an AI focal pointUnder the Radar A state-backed AI project hopes to rival China and the United States
-
What you need to know about last-minute travelThe Week Recommends You can book an awesome trip with a moment’s notice
-
Codeword: October 29, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Argentina’s Milei buoyed by regional election winsSpeed Read Argentine President Javier Milei is an ally of President Trump, receiving billions of dollars in backing from his administration
-
Proposed Trump-Putin talks in Budapest on holdSpeed Read Trump apparently has no concrete plans to meet with Putin for Ukraine peace talks
-
Bolivia elects centrist over far-right presidential rivalSpeed Read Relative political unknown Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator, was elected president
-
Madagascar president in hiding, refuses to resignSpeed Read Andry Rajoelina fled the country amid Gen Z protests and unrest
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Israel, Hamas agree to first step of Trump peace planSpeed Read Israel’s military pulls back in Gaza amid prisoner exchange
-
Israel intercepts 2nd Gaza aid flotilla in a weekSpeed Read The Israeli military intercepted a flotilla of nine boats with 145 activists aboard along with medical and food aid
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime ministerSpeed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
