'Horrendous': Former FBI deputy director blasts Trump for running roughshod over whistleblower protections

On Thursday's edition of CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time," former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe went off on President Donald Trump for suggesting the people who gave information to the Ukraine whistleblower should be killed.

"What the president said about guys like, this the guys that talked to this whistleblower, maybe even the whistleblower, they're basically spies. You know what we used to do with them," said anchor Chris Cuomo. "Your take?"

"Horrendous. Horrendous, Chris," said McCabe, who is currently suing the Trump administration for wrongful termination and who has himself been targeted for criminal investigation by Trump's Justice Department. "This is — first of all, it's the president doing exactly what the whistleblower protection statutes say you can't do, which is attempting to retaliate against somebody for filing a complaint using proper channels."

"I will also tell you that, having experienced a very similar baseless charge from the president, it is absolutely chilling," added McCabe. "Even though it's President Trump and he frequently says things that are baseless and absolutely wrong, to hear the president of the United States call you treasonous and call for your execution is absolutely terrifying. So that is a message that I'm sure all those U.S. government employees in his presence this morning received loud and clear."

Watch below: