Kudlow says he's "very disappointed" in Trump's treatment of Pence
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Larry Kudlow. Photo: Alex Wong via Getty
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow criticized President Trump’s response to last week's U.S. Capitol siege and his treatment of Vice President Mike Pence in the aftermath of the 2020 election, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday.
The big picture: Trump has lost support from a number of top aides and allies since a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, resulting in five deaths. Kudlow is the latest to publicly speak out against the president.
What he’s saying: “I was hoping that he would come out quickly and make statements calling everybody back and stopping the violence," he said.
- The White House National Economic Council director praised the video that Trump released the day of the riot, but said he wished Trump put out a statement sooner.
- Kudlow said he considered resigning after the Capitol violence, but spoke with other senior White House officials and decided that “we needed to do the work of the country in the last 10 days or so.”
- Kudlow was also “very disappointed” with Trump’s public criticism of Pence. The president turned on his VP after Pence said he would certify Biden’s win. “[V]irtually, except for a few extremists, the entire legal profession agreed with Pence,” Kudlow said.
- “Once the electoral college declared Mr. Biden to be president-elect, we would have been better advised to acknowledge that and to pivot toward talking about our positive achievements and the policies that generated those policy achievements.”
What to watch: Trump plans to leave the White House the morning of Inauguration Day, according to multiple reports. He will then face his second impeachment trial in the Senate.
