Mike Baker, former CIA officer and co-founder of Diligence LLC, joined Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the riots in DC and what he thinks of Trump’s recorded message to the country after the storms of the Capitol building.
Video transcription
ADAM SHAPIRO: We’re going into the Mike Baker stream right now. He is a former CIA operations officer. Mike, it’s good to have you here. I do not know if you had a chance to see or hear the video that President Trump put out, but he goes on to say that it was a fraudulent stolen election when it was not. And even Mitch McConnell said it was not so. I mean, how do you react to that?
MIKE BAKER: Well, that’s pathetic. It’s sad. This is an embarrassment at the international, national level. And it’s honestly too little, too late. Look, he learned nothing from four years of self-inflicted wounds, not anything. Even my youngest child learns from mistakes and not to repeat them after a period of time. And this message, as it is – I think Secretary Chertoff put it well – it’s still wrapped in grievances, right? He tries to calm down as he tries to withdraw from a situation he did not expect.
SEANA SMITH: Now, Mike, if we compare it to what we used to say about Pres. Joe Biden heard, now he had addressed the country earlier, in the hour. He appealed to the president. He says the words of the president matter no matter how good or how bad a president is. He appealed to the mob to continue the work of democracy. How do you compare the rhetoric we get from Pres. Joe Biden, and compare it to what we just heard from President Trump?
MIKE BAKER: Well, I do not think you can. Look, we all know it’s day and night, right? In the last four years, there has never been a change in the messages of President Trump or the White House. It was always kind of direct and eloquent in your face. It’s an indication of who he is, right? He is a property developer from the Tri-State area who over the years has spent his time hitting people in the nose and getting hit back. It is no surprise that he is consistent in his behavior until the last day.
But, you know, President Biden is absolutely correct in trying to bring some stability to this. But you know, the president’s words up to this point regarding the fraudulent election – and I apologize. I had a bit of construction going on here. But these words have created this mess that the president and the incoming administration now have to deal with.
ADAM SHAPIRO: Mike, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, made a statement. I want to read the statement to you and get your response. Quote, “Thank you to the brave law enforcement officials, who have their lives at stake. The violence must end. Those who attacked the police and violated the law must be prosecuted. And Congress must get back to work and complete his work. ” Nothing about his involvement in achieving what we saw today. What do you think?
MIKE BAKER: There will be many people trying to walk the dog back in terms of their actions related to fraudulent election. Look, you know, if there are fraud cases now, there has been fraud in elections for generations. It’s a human endeavor. There is always going to be something. Was that enough to overturn a court? No. No, it’s not. And yet there was this attempt to try to emerge this concept.
Look, I ate the other night with someone who still believed to their bones that President Trump would turn it around. And it is – again, I go back to the same word – sad, frustrating, pathetic, embarrassing on a national level. But to break the law is to break the law. I suspect many of the people who entered the Capitol site today were the same people who regretted some of the actions of Antifa or people who exploited BLM protests. It does not matter which side of the spectrum you are on. You break the law; you must be charged, arrested, and fully prosecuted. It’s just– it’s a simple thing, a simple concept.