'Playing with fire': Conservative fights MAGA blowback for criticizing Trump's 'bad idea'

Longtime Republican strategist and commentator Erick Erickson is not on board with President Donald Trump's move to try to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook.

Trump made the move late on Monday evening, using as justification an unproven and so far uninvestigated allegation by his housing finance director Bill Pulte that Cook had committed mortgage fraud. Cook is refusing to step down or acknowledge the validity of the order, citing Federal Reserve rules that shield their independence from the president.

Experts have broadly speculated the real motivation is to make an example of a central banking official who won't obey Trump's demands to lower interest rates, scaring the rest of the Fed into submission.

And that is a serious problem, warned Erickson in a post on X — especially when Cook has not been given any sort of due process.

"I'm not sure it is wise to fire a member of the Federal Reserve for an accusation without a finding of guilt," wrote Erickson, who has often supported Trump's policies but called out some of the more egregious excesses of the MAGA movement. "The presumption of innocence is kind of a big deal in the American constitutional order."

After all, he noted, by the same standards, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas would have to resign as well, over extensive media reports alleging he accepted improper gifts — an issue Erickson has vehemently defended Thomas on in the past. And unlike normal government employees, he said, "there actually is a higher legal threshold for the Federal Reserve."

Many of Erickson's followers criticized his position, prompting him to double down.

"The responses to this tweet are further proof this is a bad idea," wrote Erickson. "'Because she's been credibly accused' is not a legal standard. 'Because I saw a document and her accusers say it is real' is also not a sound legal standard. You guys are playing with fire and don't care."