By NATHAN DEAL
Daily Sentinel May 9, 2024
Around 450 people packed the Colorado Mesa University ballroom Tuesday evening to hear from Cassidy Hutchinson, a Trump White House staffer who has since testified against and criticized the former president.
The event was hosted by Restore the Balance, a Grand Junction-based organization dedicated to combating extremism in politics. The organization also hosted watch parties in Fruita, Delta and Durango through a YouTube livestream.
Cassidy Hutchinson, former White House aide and assistant to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Trump presidency, speaks Tuesday at a Restore The Balance event at Colorado Mesa University about her time with Donald Trump and her outlook on his presidency. Hutchinson’s visit also served as an opportunity to promote her book, “Enough,” which was published last year.
Photos by LARRY ROBINSON/ The Daily Sentinel
After internships on Capitol Hill with congressional Republicans Ted Cruz and Steve Scalise, Hutchinson became an intern with the White House in 2018. She was hired by White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows as his principal assistant in 2020, but after Trump’s presidency ended, she testified in congressional Jan. 6 hearings about Donald Trump and his associates’ behaviors before, during and after the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Hutchinson began her appearance by saying this was her first visit to Colorado. She said she visited Colorado National Monument and Grand Mesa earlier in the day.
She then began discussing her experience in the Trump White House, detailing how extremism has impacted American politics.
“I was very loyal to the president and to Mark Meadows. At some point in this so-called journey, I became detached from my loyalty to the country and I pledged my loyalty — not verbally — to the president and the chief of staff,” Hutchinson said.
“It’s really important to remember that political appointees in the executive branch under a president, we all swear an oath to protect and defend our Constitution, which is really imperative to remember. Military members and members of Congress do, as well. It’s really important to remember, as we think about this next presidential election and the election across the board … that every American, you don’t have to swear an oath formally to protect the United States Constitution. The highest honor we have as Americans is performing our civic duty to go and vote … and it’s really important to remember that because there are a lot of people now who feel disenfranchised, people like me and former colleagues who did swear that oath.”
Hutchinson asked the audience: “Do we want to reelect a man to power, to the highest office in the land and the most consequential office on this planet arguably, who is going to employ people who are willing to pledge their loyalty to a man and not the United States Constitution?”
Hutchinson said there were “many moments” throughout 2020 where she realized that she had become more loyal to Trump than to the United States. She wasn’t proud when she faced these realizations, especially one night when she was crying on the phone with a congressional Republican who then asked her to look in the mirror and evaluate if she liked the person she was becoming.
“Anything that is not unwavering loyalty to Donald Trump — the man, not the president — is seen as an act of betrayal, and with an act of betrayal, there’s a target put on your back,” Hutchinson said. “I want to emphasize here that you don’t have to just work for Donald Trump for that to potentially become a problem. He’s currently campaigning on a platform of retribution for his political enemies. It took me a long time to understand that, but there were several people who came into my life along the way that really empowered me to start thinking critically. That is something I had lost in the administration.”
JANUARY 6 FALLOUT
Hutchinson still faces consistent public criticism from Trump over her testimony, which alleged that he asked the Secret Service to take him to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and that he knew he was riling up an armed mob to invade the Capitol. At a campaign rally in Wisconsin on May 1, as he attacked Hutchinson’s testimony, he said, “I sat in the back (of the presidential limo) and you know what I did say? I said, ‘I’d like to go down there because I see a lot of people walking down.’ They said, ‘Sir, it’s better if you don’t.’ ”
Hutchinson was originally slated to work for Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida after his presidency ended. She said she hoped to take the job so she could attempt to keep Trump “in reality.” However, Hutchinson said the job was rescinded because of a perceived lack of loyalty.
She also spoke about all the times Trump continued to insist he won the 2020 election and how the West Wing in the final few months of his presidency was a mix of people looking for a way to install him for a second term and people trying to get Trump to tone down his rhetoric.
She remembered one Friday in December 2020 when she and Meadows encountered Trump in the Rose Garden and Trump told Meadows, “I don’t want people to know that we lost, Mark. Figure it out. Make some more calls.”
Hutchinson said that, after being repeatedly told he couldn’t go to the Capitol on Jan. 6, Trump spent 187 minutes at the White House simply watching the riot unfold on Fox News, not taking any actions until he was “forced” to tweet a video telling the rioters to go home.
“I felt so sad and I felt so powerless in that moment,” Hutchinson said of the events of Jan. 6.
Hutchinson told the crowd at Tuesday’s event that Trump’s actions that she witnessed were those of “a wannabe dictator,” calling out what she called Trump’s “strong man façade.”
“He sees that his façade is beginning to crumble, and that’s the greatest fear of somebody who wants to lead with authoritarian rule,” she said.
WHERE SHE STANDS NOW
Hutchinson clarified her own political stances by saying she still identifies as a conservative — although she no longer openly identifies as a Republican — because of her belief in limited government and strong national defense. However, she said she’s heavily considering voting for President Joe Biden in November’s election, despite criticizing his policies, because he has “the statesman’s character that we need in an elected official.” She expressed disappointment that Trump handily won the GOP’s nomination despite 88 criminal charges in various state and federal cases.
“The Republican Party that exists today is not the party I thought that I was signing up to be a part of,” Hutchinson said. “The Republican Party today has been completely warped in Donald Trump’s image. The party platform is nothing like it was 10 years ago. It is fundamentally dangerous and un-American.”
Hutchinson expressed grave concerns at the prospect of a second Trump term, including the further deterioration of women’s reproductive rights, economic downturn, refusal to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, and an agenda headlined by retribution against his political enemies.
“One of the biggest mistakes I made was not listening to him when he told us who he is,” Hutchinson said. “He’s told us who he is for a very long time.”
Hutchinson’s visit also served as an opportunity to promote her book, “Enough,” which was published last year. Copies of the book were sold at the event, along with Restore the Balance merchandise decrying political extremism.
“We’re extremely pleased to have her. I think her message is very consistent with ours,” Restore the Balance Chairman Tim Sarmo told The Daily Sentinel. “I think she brings a first-hand account of the things that happened that led to this huge divide we have in the country today, and I hope her message rings with all the people that are here tonight and beyond. She brings a very special message and a direct eye-witness account of the things leading up to, during and following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.”
A crowd of just under 500 people stood and clapped after Cassidy Hutchinson, former White House aide and assistant to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Trump presidency spoke at a Restore The Balance event Tuesday at CMU.
Cassidy Hutchinson, former White House aide and assistant to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Trump presidency, speaks Tuesday at a Restore The Balance event. Hutchinson expressed grave concerns at the prospect of a second Trump term, including the further deterioration of women’s reproductive rights, economic downturn, refusal to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, and an agenda headlined by retribution against his political enemies.