Republican strategists are predicting major political problems if President Donald Trump moves to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, The Hill is reporting.
"I think it would be a really bad idea to fire him and exacerbate the situation," said Barry Bennett, a senior adviser to Trump's 2016 campaign.
Speculation about a possible Mueller ouster has mounted since Trump took to Twitter over the weekend to complain about the special counsel and his team of investigators.
And Trump's personal lawyer, John Dowd, told The Daily Beast on Saturday he hoped Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, would end Mueller's investigation.
Meanwhile, Doug Heye, a one-time communication director of the Republican National Committee, said Trump and the GOP should focus on other issues as they prepare to battle Democrats in the midterms, including "how many jobs were created, what is the unemployment rate and who gets the credit for it?"
"That is a much better place, as opposed to ‘did you or did you not obstruct justice?'"
Longtime Trump friend, Michael Caputo, who worked on the 2016 campaign, said Trump's tweets about Mueller were expressions of frustration with the special counsel and not threats to fire him, The Hill noted.
"This is the president trying to define the terms of discussion when it comes to the investigation and perhaps even using Twitter to determine the boundaries," Caputo said. "I don't think he is threatening to fire anybody. I think he is frustrated and voicing his frustrations."
GOP lawmakers also have made their feelings known about any move to get rid of Mueller.
AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan, issued a statement when asked for a reaction to the president's attacks on Mueller, CNN reported.
"As the Speaker has always said, Mr. Mueller and his team should be able to do their job," Strong said.
And Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said if Trump tried to fire Mueller it "would be the beginning of the end of his presidency."