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More ex-staff participated in anti-Trump meeting than expected — and a former official says they're all worried
January 16, 2022 9:30PM ET
President Donald Trump pouts while listening to criticism of his plan to arm teachers (Screen cap).
Former Homeland Security adviser Olivia Troye revealed to CNN that the meeting of former officials in the Donald Trump administration had more attendees than anticipated.
Speaking to Jim Acosta on Sunday, Troye explained that the discussions were in the early stages, but were about how they could work together to combat the former president's lies.
"It's the first time we've all come together as a group," she said. "This is a group of people that have worked across the Trump administration at varying levels, whether it be national security or more on the political side of the White House, and in different departments. I did find it encouraging that it was a much larger number of people who participated in this meeting than I actually expected it to be. And it was very clear that there is grave concern amongst these circles about what is happening, about the fact that Trump continues to play such a significant role in influencing our U.S. politics, and also what it means for this movement that continues to follow him and the movement that he continues to enable."
He also asked her about the op-ed in the Washington Post by former Vice President Mike Pence, who Troye advised. She said that Pence is clearly giving credence to Trump's election lies.
"I read that op-ed, and while I was, like, okay, finally, you're actually publicly acknowledging that this was an angry mob and it was a dangerous situation that day," said Troye. "But then he doubles back on the claims of election integrity, which is basically code for the big lie. So when he does that, he's by de facto enabling it. That's what he's doing. You're enabling the big lie that almost led to your death. And I think he's doing that because he really has no other choice. He is right now scrambling to figure out where his political home is in the Republican Party."
She explained that if Pence decides that the GOP is the party of Trumpism then his chance at anything in 2024 is "an extreme long shot."
See the conversation below:
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