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In placing the country before politics, former President Donald Trump said Thursday evening that he hopes his successor President Joe Biden does well.
The somewhat surprising remarks came during a lengthy interview on Fox News’ “Hannity,” with Trump stressing that the United States is currently facing some serious problems. He would also stress once again that he had authorized the use of the National Guard on January 6 and that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rejected the option.
“I want him – forget politics – I want him to do well. He’s got to do well. Our country’s in trouble,” Trump said. “What’s happened in the last year, I don’t think we’ve had anything like it in this country. When you look at that horrible situation in Afghanistan, the way they got out. Getting out was good, but the way they got out, we could have got there with strength and with dignity and kept Bagram, which is right next to China. One hour away from where they make their nuclear weapons in China, we should have kept it.”
He went on to mention the 13 U.S. service members who were killed and the $85 billion in military equipment and weapons left behind, among other things that marked the Afghan exit debacle.
“When you say you want him to do well, that’s a rare statement from anybody in politics,” Hannity said, before noting the difference with Democrats. “Secretly, deep down inside, you know what? They don’t want the other side to do well, because they don’t believe their philosophy will work.”
The Fox News host noted that with Biden “there’s no course correction, so you keep banging your head against the wall.”
Trump responded by stating that many of the accomplishments he was able to realize under his administration are largely gone under Biden.
“It’s all gone, In one instance, and at first I thought it was gross incompetence but now it’s incompetent policies,” he said.
As for how the rest of the world views the U.S. under Biden, the former president said he was ashamed.
“I don’t think we’ve ever been in this position,” Trump said. “I feel ashamed at what’s happened in the last year with our country. I’m ashamed of what’s going on, and so are Americans. They’re ashamed and embarrassed. They haven’t seen this. I don’t think we’ve ever seen this like this.”
Later in the interview, Hannity asked Trump point-blank if he authorized the National Guard to be called up ahead of the January 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol.
“One hundred percent, and attested to by many people. And they turned it down,” the former president replied. “Nancy Pelosi turned it down — I guess they both did — and she is in charge of the Capitol.”
Trump was referring to Pelosi and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, insisting there “would have been no January 6″ if they would have called up the National Guard, adding, “There would have been no problem whatsoever, but they turned it down, which tells you everything.”
“I knew it was going to be a massive rally because this was a protest against the election which they considered to be totally rigged… I met with the top people in military and other places and I said I think this is going to be a lot of people coming down,” he said. “I believe it was the biggest crowd I’ve spoken to. It was massive — I’m not talking about the people that walked down to the Capital. I’m talking about the rally.”
“It was a lot of love there. Believe me, there was a lot of love and a lot of friendship, and people that love our country. These are great people,” he added, speaking of those who attended the rally.
In commenting on Biden’s impact on energy, Trump noted that while the administration focuses on cutting emissions, China, Russia and India continuing to release high levels.
“We made [oil] affordable, we had more energy jobs than we have ever had. Now all of those, not all, a lot of those jobs are gone,” he told Hannity. “If you could start that up again, you could stop with all of the windmills all over the place, that are ruining the atmosphere.
“You look at what’s happening to these beautiful prairies and plains and these gorgeous areas of our country where they have these rusting hulks put up all over the place that are noisy, they’re killing the birds, Trump said, adding, “I don’t get the environmental incentive, it is a very expensive, probably the most expensive, form of energy. If you look at what we had, natural gas is very clean. They destroyed the coal miners and you have clean coal.
“They use coal now for much more than just energy, they use it for other things also but they destroyed the coal miners. They are just destroying these people for no reason whatsoever.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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