President Donald Trump's continuing barrage online and in speeches against Attorney General Jeff Sessions is "childish" and beneath the dignity of the office of the presidency, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Wednesday.
"This is the equivalent of me basically not getting along with my chief of staff, and putting it out on Twitter that my chief of staff is a terrible person and not doing a great job as chief," the Illinois Republican told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program.
In addition to being "childish," Kinzinger said it sets a precedence for Trump's future activities.
Kinzinger slammed Trump on Twitter Tuesday in response to one of his tweets against Sessions.
He doubled down on his tweet Wednesday, saying Trump's actions are beneath even what a city councilman should be doing.
Former radio show host Charlie Sykes, now a commentator on MSNBC, commented that he has been a "bit heartened" to see key Republicans speaking out aggressively against Trump's criticisms of Sessions, but Trump's actions are crossing "all sorts of lines."
"This is really banana republic stuff," said Sykes. "We're not talking about a staffer, but the attorney general. The president has made it absolutely clear his beef with Jeff Sessions is he would not protect him by obstructing the investigation into Russia."
Sykes said should Trump fire special counsel Robert Mueller, Republicans should make it "very, very clear" that he has crossed a "red line."
"They can stop this, but they have to stop this by being absolutely clear," said Sykes, a longtime critic of Trump. "Subtlety does not work with this president."
Kinzinger agreed that there would be many people speaking up if Mueller is fired, but said he doesn't "ever go to that level" when he was asked if that would be a potentially impeachable offense.
"That's a very high bar with huge implications," said Kinzinger. "I think a lot of people have been saying it cavalierly right now."
The problem with Trump, said Sykes, is that he does not understand that the FBI director, a special prosecutor or the attorney general do not work for him personally, but for the American public.
"He seems to think that somehow it's like his business back in New York," said Sykes. "[House Speaker] Paul Ryan can stop this. [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell can stop this. They need to draw a stronger line ... at this point you have to ask yourself what must Donald Trump be hiding, how big must it be, for him to risk blowing up his administration in this way?"