MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on Thursday asked if Republicans are “dead inside” for allowing President Trump to criticize the FBI and the Russia investigation.
Wallace expressed concerns that Republican members of Congress are standing by while Trump attacks the FBI over the revelations that an agent was removed from the special counsel investigation over anti-Trump text messages that he sent during the campaign.
{mosads}
“Are Republicans dead inside?” Wallace, who also served as a communications director for former President George W. Bush, asked panelist Doug Holtz-Eakin, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office.
“Why don’t Republicans care that a Republican-led Justice Department, a Republican-led FBI, led by men appointed by Donald Trump, is being smeared,” she said. “And the character of the men leading those agencies [is being] assassinated by people associated with the Republican Party, not the Democratic Party.”
Wallace’s comments come amid speculation that Trump could be preparing to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, who’s leading the probe into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Republicans have accused the FBI of “political bias” in the Russia investigation over the agent’s text messages and the agency’s handling of the dossier linking Trump to Russia.
Trump directly attacked the agency on Twitter earlier this month, writing that the FBI’s reputation is “in tatters.”
Holtz-Eakin responded that he “obviously can’t answer for every Republican” before Wallace interrupted him.
“Can you call some?” she asked. “I mean, what’s wrong with them?”
Holtz-Eakin continued, suggesting that many Republicans are likely choosing to focus their energy on passing legislation rather than arguing with the president.
“In every one of these situations, there’s a very simple transactional element,” he said. “He is the president of the United States, and we want to get some things done.”
Wallace pushed back, saying, “So getting a tax bill is more important than finding out if Russia meddled in the 2016 election?”