(Headline USA) Former Attorney General Bill Barr once again tried to walk back his criticism of his old boss, former President Donald Trump, saying this week that he does not believe the Jan. 6 Capitol protest was an “insurrection.”
“I didn’t view it as an insurrection,” he told NPR on Monday. “I mean, I think it was a riot that got out of control.”
However, in his new book, Barr claimed the Jan. 6 riot was a threat to “democracy” and blamed Trump for “inciting” it.
“I do think he was responsible in the broad sense of that word, and that it appears that part of the plan was to send this group up to the Hill,” Barr told NBC’s Lester Holt last week. “I think the whole idea was to intimidate Congress, and I think that that was wrong.”
Barr has also waffled on whether he would support Trump again if he runs in 2024 and wins. He said he would vote for whomever the Republican nominee was, but claimed Trump would be “one of the weaker candidates.”
“We have a lot of young candidates who will fight for principle but don’t have the sort of obnoxious personal characteristics that alienate a lot of voters,” Barr claimed.
Trump has repeatedly blasted Barr for trashing him in the media to promote his new book.
“I made many great appointments during my Administration, and we accomplished more than most Administrations could even dream of, but Bill Barr was not one of my better picks,” Trump said in a recent statement.
“He crumbled under the pressure, and bowed to the Radical Left. And that is not acceptable,” Trump said. “Now he is groveling for the media, hoping to gain acceptance that he doesn’t deserve.”
Barr responded to Trump’s comments on Monday, calling them “childish.”
“Par for the course,” Barr said on NBC’s “Today” show. “The president is a man who, when he is told something he doesn’t want to hear, he immediately throws a tantrum.”
