Former National Security Advisor John Bolton is encouraging Republicans to speak about President Donald Trump’s behavior and acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election.
During an appearance on ABC’s “The View” Tuesday, Bolton was asked how he can “chastise” Republicans when he “legitimized, defended, normalized, and enabled Trump for so long.”
“Well, you give me a lot of credit. I don’t think I normalized him or enabled him,” Bolton responded. “What I went in to do was help formulate national security policy.”
He continued:
“Because, I felt notwithstanding everything that had been said about him — and I don’t think I’m naive I think I understood what people were saying — I thought the weight of the office, the gravity of the responsibility would have an effect on him as it did on everyone else. And it turned out it didn’t.”
Watch the video below:
“I don’t think I normalized [Trump] or enabled him.”
— The View (@TheView) November 24, 2020
John Bolton defends taking a role in the Trump admin in 2018: “I thought the weight of the office… would have an effect on him as it did on everyone else. And it turned out it didn’t.” https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik pic.twitter.com/jfVimSpw80
Additionally, Bolton said he is not criticizing Republicans. Instead, he said, “I’m urging them to come forward.”
He also noted that he had not “named individuals” and said he is “not trying to play being virtuous at anyone else’s expense.”
“I’m trying to make a cold, hard political argument here that it endangers the party not to refute the Trump narrative,” he added.
On Sunday, Bolton urged Republicans to “come out and say Trump’s behavior is inexcusable.”
While several news outlets began to call the election for Biden on Nov. 7, Trump has not conceded and has alleged that there was widespread voter fraud in the election.
However, the Government Services Administration (GSA) has acknowledged that Biden is the “apparent” winner of the election and has freed up government resources allocated to facilitate the transition process.
Earlier this year, Bolton released his book, “The Room Where It Happened,” which painted an unflattering picture of how Trump operated in the White House, specifically in regards to foreign policy decisions.
