President Donald Trump's decision to gloatingly cheer the death of former special counsel Robert Mueller, who led the investigation into his campaign's ties to the Russian government following the 2016 election, was ripped to shreds by MS NOW's "The Weeknight" anchors Symone Sanders Townsend and Michael Steele.
Sanders Townsend pointed out the double standard of how aggressively Trump and his allies policed any discussion of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk following his murder last year.
"It is despicable to speak ill of Charlie Kirk. Whether you agreed with him or not, to criticize him and his death is absolutely abhorrent," said Sanders Townsend. "But then we got the President of the United States, when an actual public servant, an actual war hero, like, like the President of the United States, there could be no, I don't, I don't, I'm struggling to find the words about why he thought it was appropriate. Robert Mueller, I understand you don't like the guy, but he is a public servant. He was an actual war hero, for crying out loud. Say nothing. Silence is a choice, child."
"I just take you to Twitter and see my words because I think the president was a vile, disgusting human being, and he showed that publicly in the face of the passing of a war hero, as Symone noted, an American citizen who, regardless of what you thought of him and his and his service to the country, did not warrant the response from this president," said Steele, who previously chaired the Republican National Committee. "And so shame on you, Mr. President."
"You embarrass, and you belittle all of us with your petty, personal, degrading behavior," Steele continued. "And we as a country need to grow up and get off that track. We need to get off of that because that's a reflection of us ... At the end of the day, as I noted, you know, regardless of where you are politically, the American people right now should be embarrassed that the leader of their country said in the moment of the announcement of someone's passing, I'm glad they're dead. Do you want your kids to learn that behavior? Say that about their friends, to say that about leaders in their community? I don't think so."
"So we need, as a country, need to get off of this and stop letting Donald Trump drag us down to the lowest, most disgusting level possible. Because this weekend we hit it," he added.