CNN’s Carl Bernstein: Donald Trump Was in a ‘State of Madness’ on January 6
Bernstein weighed in on Trump's 'state of mind' during the event
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CNN contributor Carl Bernstein claimed that Thursday’s January 6 House Select Committee hearing showed former President Donald Trump was “in a state of madness.”
During his network’s coverage of Thursday’s January 6 House Select Committee hearing, Bernstein weighed in on Trump's "state of mind" during the event.
While discussing a conversation with White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, former deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews said:
“She looked directly at me, and in a hushed tone is shared with me that the president did not want to include any sort of mention of peace in that tweet."
"And that it took some convincing on their part, those who are in the room."
"She said that there was a back and forth going over different phrases to find something that he was comfortable with," she added.
"It wasn’t until Ivanka Trump suggested the phrase stay peaceful that he finally agreed to include it.”
Bernstein said:
“Can we go back to a phrase that I used a few weeks ago, and that is the mad king."
"That we get a picture of him tonight in his court around him, trying to deal with the mad king," he said.
"They don’t know what to do."
"His own children and son-in-law don’t know what to do about the mad king.”
He added:
“We have many people saying invoke the 25 Amendment because we have a president of the United States who is in a state of madness."
"That’s a very dark place.”
As NPR reported, the House committee investigating Jan. 6 detailed Trump's "complete dereliction of duty" as he ignored pleas to condemn the violence and call off the mob from his White House Counsel, top aides and members of his own family.
"This man of unbridled destructive energy could not be moved, not by his aides, not by his allies, not by the violent chants of rioters, or the desperate pleas of those facing down the rioters," said Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., during Thursday's prime-time hearing.
The Democrat-led committee shed light on the much-talked about but still murky 187 minutes that stretched from his speech to his supporters at 1:10 p.m. ET to his 4:17 p.m. ET video statement asking them to return home.
The hearing, led by military veterans Reps. Elaine Luria, D-Va., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., used witness testimony to piece together Trump's actions the afternoon of Jan. 6, as there was not an official call log from the White House that afternoon and nothing included in the presidential daily diary.
