Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol joined several regulars on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Tuesday to discuss the fallout of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) opposing the Iran nuclear deal.
The exchange got heated at multiple points between Kristol and liberal co-host Mika Brzezinski.
"I mean, restarting talks with Iran. That’s ludicrous," Brzezinski said.
Kristol rebutted President Obama’s claim that Republicans in Congress have opposed his policies every step of the way for political reasons. He pointed out GOP support for Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership trade promotion authority, the Afghanistan surge, and NSA intelligence collections.
"On foreign policy when President Obama has done what Republicans agreed with, they’ve supported him," Kristol said. "When he’s done what they and I don’t agree with, we’ve opposed him. It’s a policy difference. For President Obama to make it seem like this is just a knee-jerk reaction is silly."
Kristol maintained the U.S. could still maintain sanctions that would keep the status quo and allow the U.S. to bring Iran back to the negotiating table.
Brzezinski did not appear impressed.
"You guys know this would be calamitous for our reputation and for this White House if they all of a sudden just said, ‘Oh forget it. Let’s just not do it.’ That’s crazy," Brzezinski said, to which Kristol called "hogwash."
Kristol quipped, "We have a thing called a representative government here where Congress gets to approve major issues of foreign policy," to which Brzezinski repeated, "We have a thing called a deal and we look really disorganized."
The two began to raise their voices arguing over Schumer’s motivation to oppose Obama. Brzezinski insisted Schumer was taking his stance strictly for political reasons.
Bloomberg’s John Heilemann admitted he originally agreed with Brzezinski but changed his mind upon seeing the heavy reaction from former White House staff and other Democratic groups who have relentlessly attacked the senator after his announcement. Schumer may lose his spot in leadership and lose up to $11 million in campaign funding for his stance.
Ultimately, Kristol predicted Schumer’s objection to the deal would cause some anxiety in the White House by making it a "tougher vote" for Democrats up for re-election.