New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi explained in a Sunday CNN interview that President Donald Trump is awkwardly wedged between a rock and a hard place on the New Zealand terrorist attack.

President Donald Trump was relegated to tweeting “best wishes” to the families of the 49 people killed in the shooting.

My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques. 49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2019

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The White House was forced to send out chief-of-staff Mick Mulvaney to the Sunday morning talk shows to take on the message from the president.

“I think the Fox News host there was right to ask why the president won’t just come out and give a speech about this, but I think unfortunately the obvious answer to that is that he can’t,” said Nuzzi. “He can’t without disavowing what he himself has said previously.”

She explained that since Trump announced his campaign, he had said “abhorrent things”about Muslims, which she attributed to “rising tensions” around the world.

“He can’t give a speech condemning white supremacism and condemning this ideology that led to these 50 deaths, including a 3-year-old,” Nuzzi continued. “If he does not take some personal responsibility for the things that he has said. So, I think, for the time being, the only thing he can do is send out his surrogates, as he’s doing now, while he stays at home and sends tweets about other topics, I think hoping to deflect the conversation elsewhere.”

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It’s an odd choice, given Mulvaney’s statements about Trump being a “terrible human being.”

“I doubt he’s evolved and views the president differently,” Nuzzi predicted about Mulvaney. “But I think he got a different opportunity and is feeling the role he now has. He’s not the only one who’s served in this White House who previously condemned the president.”

Watch her full comments below: