White House is a ‘Thunderdome of dregs stabbing each other’: GOP strategist explains source of leaks

Longtime Republican strategist Mike Murphy described the West Wing as a "Thunderdome" in a Wednesday interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell.

The host played a clip of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders arguing that the leaks coming from the White House about embattled staffer Kelly Sadler were "disgusting" after she reportedly joked about the death of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is battling brain cancer.

"It's disgusting and disloyal?" Mitchell wondered. "One of the most disgusting you could participate in, to leak a comment, when many people would say that the comment it was arguably much more disgusting."

"Yeah, I would," Murphy agreed. "This is a situation where they have their ethical compass completely backwards."

"The truth is, the more you make your White House into a Thunderdome of dregs stabbing each other, than the more leaks you get," Murphy concluded.

The GOP strategist was referring to the 1985 movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner.

In the movie, the Thunderdome is a gladiatorial arena for trial-by-combat to settle disputes in Bartertown.

The duels inside the arena are expected to be to the death, under the rule "two men enter, one man leaves."

Mike Murphy, the GOP strategist, also offered some public advice for the White House.

"They owe an apology and the staffer who is doing comedy routines about a hero fighting terminal cancers ought to go back to Rev. Moon's newspaper, or wherever they found her," Murphy advised. "She should have been fired instantly."

"They deserve all the condemnation they're getting," he added.

Watch: