Former Trump administration staffer agrees president can't quit Obama

Former Department of Homeland Security spokesperson David Lapan, under President Donald Trump, agreed that the president has an obsession with former President Barack Obama.

During an MSNBC panel discussion, host Chris Jansing asked if the president "has an inability to move on from Obama and Clinton."

Lapan explained both are true.

"He certainly has this thing about Obama and he just can't let it go," Lapan said. "It seems to underpin everything he does and says. It also does have an appeal to his base. It was one week ago tonight that we conducted the airstrike that killed Gen. Qasem Suleimani. In those seven days, the administration's messaging and its communications on this has been all over the map. This is the most momentous foreign policy and national security action this administration has taken, yet it can't clearly explain to the American public and to the broader public across the world what it did, why it did, what its strategy is and I don't think the president's speech yesterday lived up to that either. It didn't provide the clarity or the assurance that needed to be provided at that time."

Meanwhile, Republicans and Fox News are claiming that Democrats are defending Suleimani, something that has been proven false. What Democrats oppose is an escalation to the crisis in the Middle East and unending wars.

Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) went so far as to say that Democrats "love terrorists."

"I don't think it resonates at all across America," said Lapan. "Again, it may resonate with the base. Those type of statements, ambassador you said, are clearly talking points that have been distributed. They have no basis in fact either, that's the other thing. It's easily debunkable that members of the Democratic Party have said things that show that they somehow are mourning the death. That's not been the case, it's not shown to be true that people have said that from the party. So, it's more example, again, of appealing to a certain segment of the population, not to the American public. And as I said before, this is serious business. It's life and death, this is national security. It's time to put partisan politics away and address this entire thing from a unity."

Watch the comments below: