Three Ex-Donald Trump Staffers Have Dire Concerns About a Second Term

Three former Donald Trump staffers issued their concerns on Sunday about a possible second Trump term.

Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin, former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews and former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson have been vocal critics of Trump in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both Matthews and Hutchinson testified before the House January 6 committee last year, which investigated the attack as they recalled the events of that day. Matthews resigned within hours of the Capitol attack while Griffin and Hutchinson left their positions in 2020.

Meanwhile, the former president was indicted on four counts in August, accused of attempting to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden in the run-up to the January 6 attack. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. It is one of four criminal cases Trump is facing, which include 91 felony charges, as he campaigns to retake the White House in 2024. He has also pleaded not guilty to all counts in the other three cases.

In a joint interview on Sunday with ABC's This Week with host Jonathan Karl, the three former Trump staffers warned what a second Trump could look like, adding that it represents a danger to democracy if he is reelected.

While speaking alongside Matthews and Hutchinson, Griffin voiced concerns over the idea of another Trump presidency.

"Fundamentally a second Trump term could mean the end of American democracy as we know it and I don't say that lightly," Griffin said. "We all witnessed him trying to steal a democratic election before and going to historic and unconstitutional lengths to do so and that just shows he is willing to basically break every barrier to get into power and to stay in power, but I'm also very concerned what the term would actually look like."

Newsweek reached out via email on Sunday to Trump's representatives and Griffin for comment.

Trump responded to the pre-recorded joint interview by calling the three women "ungrateful grifters" who took jobs to benefit themselves and who have gone "full Judas," according to a statement obtained by ABC News.

During the interview, Matthews emphasized how Trump's behavior has only added to her fears over what a second term for the MAGA leader would look like.

"We don't need to speculate what a second Trump term would look like because we already saw it play out," Matthews said. "To this day he still doubles down on the fact that he thinks the election was stolen and then his rhetoric has just gotten increasingly erratic. I mean he has literally called for things like doing away with parts of the constitution, wanting to weaponize the DOJ to enact revenge on his political enemies."

This comes after the former president's use of language has been under criticism as he previously, during a town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity earlier this month, faced questions about whether or not he'd be a "dictator" during a potential second term. Trump, after deflecting the question, said he would only be a dictator on "day one" to implement some of his policies, but would not abuse his power in the White House.

In addition, Hutchinson slammed Trump's recent dictator comment and said that it shows the former president lacks integrity.

"The fact that he felt that he needs to lean into being a dictator alone shows that he is a weak and feeble man who has no sense of character and integrity and has no sense of leadership," Hutchinson said.

All three former staffers stressed the importance of ensuring Trump does not return to office.

"This is a fundamental election to continue to safeguard our institutions and our constitutional republic, but if we crumble as a nation, we're setting an example that democracy is an experiment and it's not guaranteed," Hutchinson said.

Matthews indicated she wasn't thrilled about the choices in the 2024 presidential election, which would likely include Trump as the GOP candidate and President Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate, but she suggested she would back Biden.

"I've never voted for a Democrat in my life, but I think that in this next election, I would put policy aside and choose democracy," Matthews said.

Hutchinson added that the "singular focus needs to be, if [Trump] is the nominee, on making sure that he is not elected the president again next November."