‘Give This Guy a Month of Peace!’ ABC Panel Battles After Reince Priebus Fumes Over ‘Hyperbolic Nonsense’ Against Trump

A panel discussion on ABC’s This Week, on Sunday, got heated after former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus blasted criticism of President-elect Donald Trump as “hyperbolic nonsense.”

The fireworks started after host Jon Karl questioned Priebus about past criticism of Trump by Tulsi Gabbard — who is Trump’s pick to be Director of National Intelligence. Karl noted comments from former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley — who called Gabbard a Russian “sympathizer.”

“You wouldn’t rise to a rank of… lieutenant colonel if our intelligence agencies thought that somehow she was some kind of Russian asset,” Priebus said. “Which, if people are going to level those charges, they better be darn sure that they’re accurate.”

“Nikki Haley didn’t say that,” Karl said. “She said she was a sympathizer.”

“But it’s all insinuted, OK?!” Priebus shot back. “It’s this cutesy, hyperbolic nonsense coming out of the media and the Democrats who refuse to accept the fact that almost a majority or a majority of Americans have accepted Donald Trump and Trumpism. I think it’s time to give this guy a month of peace and let the process play out.”

The comment elicited laughs and gasps from several this week This Week panelists.

“I don’t know about giving him any peace, child,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), a fellow panelist. She added, “You signed up to be the President of the United States, and we are definitely at a precipice in this country. And people were hurting and they believe in him. So, no, there should not be any peace over the next four years.”

“You’ve got to give peace to get it,” former New Jersey governor Chris Christie added. And I think what the president needs to show is… that he’s not going to be on the attack constantly against everybody, that he should bring some Democrats in, start to talk to them about the things where they agree, because there are places where they agree. I mean, he and Bernie Sanders agree on a lot of things. So I’m all for having some peace because I think we’re all tired of all the other stuff. But you got to give peace to get it.”

Watch above, via ABC.