During Sunday’s broadcast of CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he was still at odds with President Donald Trump despite his election victory last November.
The Kentucky Republican said he still harbored ill-will for what he had alleged was Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Partial transcript as follows:
STAHL: How would you describe your relationship with President Trump?
MCCONNELL: Well, we haven’t spoken for quite a while. I was very upset about what happened January 6.
STAHL: You had to be evacuated from the Senate along with other leaders. Your staff was in your office. The rioters were banging on your door. Someone with a flagpole broke a window into your office.
MCCONNELL: Yeah. Well, my staff in the Capitol was putting furniture up against the doors.
STAHL: To prevent them from coming–
MCCONNELL: To prevent the rioters from outside from breaking the doors and getting at them. And what was it about? To try to prevent the orderly transfer of government, which had never happened in our country.
STAHL: Your staff, after the crisis was over, you went and spoke with them. You– it was a highly emotional situation. You remember?
MCCONNELL: Oh, I remember well.
STAHL: Do you remember what you told them?
MCCONNELL: That– Yeah, I remember what I told them.
MCCONNELL (OFF-CAMERA): President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.
MCCONNELL: That’s the way I still feel about it.
STAHL: What are your views on President Trump and his supporters trying to change what happened on January 6? They’re calling it a “day of love.” They called the rioters “martyrs.”
MCCONNELL: Yeah. No, it– it was an insurrection.
STAHL: What about the pardons for the people who stormed the Capitol that day?
MCCONNELL: I– I think pardoning the people who’ve been convicted is a mistake.
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