Trump wishes new administration luck in farewell video

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 20, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump trumpeted his administration’s accomplishments and wished his successor luck in a farewell video Tuesday as he spent his final full day in office.

“This week we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous,” Trump said in the video. “We extend our best wishes. And we also want them to have luck – a very important word.”

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Trump referenced the “next administration” but didn’t say Joe Biden’s name.

Trump was also expected to spend his final hours granting clemency to as many as 100 people, according to two people briefed on the plans. The list of pardons and commutations is expected to include names unfamiliar to the American public – regular people who have spent years languishing in prison – as well as politically connected friends and allies like those he’s pardoned in the past.

Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday explicitly blamed Trump for the riot at the Capitol, saying the mob was “fed lies” and that the president and others “provoked” those intent on overturning Biden’s election.

Ahead of Trump’s historic second impeachment trial, McConnell’s remarks were his most severe and public rebuke of the outgoing president. The GOP leader is setting a tone as Republicans weigh whether to convict Trump on the impeachment charge that will soon be sent over from the House: “incitement of insurrection.”

“The mob was fed lies,” McConnell said. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”

The Republican leader vowed a “safe and successful” inauguration of Biden on Wednesday at the Capitol, where final preparations were underway amid heavy security.