President-elect Donald Trump called for Liz Cheney’s prison sentence in his first television interview since winning a second term.
Trump’s conversation with Kristen Welker of NBC’s “Meet the Press” did little to dispel the idea that he would use his office to settle scores. In one particularly disturbing moment, he argued that former Rep. Liz Cheney should be thrown in jail for her investigation into Trump’s actions on January 6.
“Cheney was behind it, and so was Bennie Thompson and everyone on that committee. For what they did, quite frankly, they should go to jail,” he said in the interview that aired Sunday.
The House of Representatives’ Jan. 6 committee ultimately concluded that Trump should be prosecuted for his actions leading up to and during the storming of the U.S. Capitol. An election interference case against Trump played out under special counsel Jack Smith, who has ended his prosecution of the president now that Trump is set to return to power.
Welker, for her part, tried to give Trump a way out. She asked him directly whether he really thinks Cheney, an outspoken supporter of Vice President Kamala Harris in the weeks leading up to the election, should be jailed.
“For what they did… I think everyone on the [committee]everyone who voted in favor [should go to jail]” he said.
Welker asked whether Trump would go so far as to order his attorney general to send Cheney to prison, and he ultimately backed down.
“Not at all, I think they should look into that,” he said. “I’m going to focus on ‘drill, baby, drill.'”
Watch the exchange below:
