balances. and i feel as though that s under assault and is eroding. wow. let s get a wider view of those comments with my panel now. brian morganstern, a republican strategist. ellis henniken, a political analyst and columnist. brian, pretty strong, powerful words coming from the former dni, clapper there, saying our institutions are under assault. it was incoherent nonsense, albeit provocative. first of all, the president fired an executive branch appointee. he s not trying to fire congressmen or judges. second of all, the two bipartisan congressional investigations are continuing. the fbi s own investigation is continuing. when president obama was using his pen and phone to legislate, mem the democratic congressmen would have spoken up at that point. finally, both democrats and republicans were calling for the firing of jim comey. i think they re just mad about
blind vitriol all the time. and i think a product of that is people calling for impeachment when there is no evidence of any crimes. i mean that s sort of a byproduct of that. i would agree that getting back to a situation where we can disagree respectfully will be a step in that direction in restoring trust in our institutions. quickly, ellis, is that why some people are hot? you know, is it the talk of impeachment or is it what preceded that? there s heat. listen, i don t like to demonize those who disagree with me, so let me think the best of it in this case. it may well be happening i hope brian is going to lead this parade that the decent republicans, fair-minded republicans, patriotic republicans, are going to say, you know what? there s some stuff we re not going to take, even from a president of our own party. not a lot of that has happened yet. but you know what? hope springs eternal at times like this. i do have some faith. all right, gentlemen. ellis henican, brian
and now top democratic leaders are criticizing some republicans for their silence on the president s chaotic week and for ignoring his controversial tweets and statements. this morning on cnn s state of the union, senate minority leader chuck schumer called on the gop it set aside party loyalty and speak out against the president when the moment calls for it. it is a crisis of credibility with the president. i mean so many things, there s so much factual fabrication, and then backsliding and contradiction. we need our republican colleagues not every day, but on the occasions when it is necessary, such as for a special prosecutor, such as what s happened in the last week, to speak out because this is country. this is an issue of country, not party. let s bring back republican strategist brian morganstern and republican analyst ellis hennigan. brian, does the gop have a problem with party versus
who got to fire him, that it wasn t hillary clinton that got to fire him. the idea that our system of checks and balances and the co-equal branches are under threat just makes absolutely no sense in this case. ellis, do you agree, he was out of left field? let me help brian with his coherence, if i can on this. absolutely we have seen a series of disrespecting of those core principles of our nation. whether, brian, it be dissing federal judges in their roles of the federal process, trying to elbow aside the opposition in congress, and whether it be firing an fbi director who had a ten-year term, by the way, and should not be fired except in cases of absolute malfeasance in office. lying about and sending his folks out to lie for the reasons for it. we now find out the reason is primarily an investigation that donald trump and his campaign are at the very center of. so indeed i think you are going to be hearing more and more comments like those of mr. clapper in the days to come.
so, gentlemen, how about more of what james clapper had to say in this interview with jake tapper? let s listen. there are a lot of americans out there who are scared this week. democrats, republicans, independents. because of the behavior by the president. are you among them? i m concerned. i will say that. so, brian, should people be concerned, and do you think that there are others, including clapper, who are concerned? well, people are always concerned. and particularly when they re in an opposition party. but the fact of the matter is, as i ve said, there are two bipartisan investigations going on, and the fbi s own investigation going on. and ellis, even director comey recognized that the president can fire the fbi director for any reason or no reason. how about this? do they have reason to be concerned? reason to be concerned, no.