Frank Figliuzzi, former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, says a President Trump “can’t happen again,” so a “bipartisan committee,” rather than voters, should “vet” and approve future candidates.
Figliuzzi, who worked under Robert Mueller at the FBI, made it clear during a Thursday appearance on MSNBC he buys into conspiracy theories about Donald Trump being influenced by the Russian government, calling him “the most vulnerable president in history.”
Vaguely mentioning various business dealings the president had previously had with foreign companies, the current NBC News national security contributor said the US needs to have a “national discussion” to avoid another Trump.
“We’ve got to have a national discussion about how we vet a presidential candidate. We screwed this up,” he said.
The NBC contributor suggests a “bipartisan committee” that would require tax returns and personal financial information to be handed over before a candidate can be approved.
“We got this wrong, and this can’t happen again,” he said of Trump.
MSNBC’s @FrankFigliuzzi1 proposes creating a "bipartisan commission" to vet presidential candidates to prevent another Trump: "We got this wrong, and this can’t happen again." pic.twitter.com/itZp3ZebJz
Figliuzzi’s suggestion of giving a vague “committee” more power over the selection of presidential candidates than actual voters has earned criticism from both liberals and conservatives on social media, with many seeing the idea as “scary” and a step in the direction of countries where people have little power in who is put in power.
“Reminds me of Iran’s Guardian Council, which has 12 members. The Guardian Council approves candidates for president and majlis (Congress),” Huffington Post journalist Yashar Ali tweeted, adding, “Great idea, let’s become like Iran… that’s going to turn out well, I’m sure.”
Reminds me of Iran’s Guardian Council which has 12 members.
The Guardian Council approves candidates for president and majlis (Congress).
Great idea, let’s become like Iran…that’s going to turn out well I’m sure. https://t.co/QFcrcACTia
In Iran they have the Guardian Council, which vets politicians to make sure their views are aligned w the Islamic Revolution. The deep state council that this fmr top FBI official proposes here would serve same purpose. It would "protect" permanent state.https://t.co/9jzzBbMPaj