Chief strategist to the John McCain 2008 presidential campaign and current MSNBC contributor Steve Schmidt advised the Trump campaign to focus on writing a "dignified" concession speech for "Madam President-Elect Hillary Clinton."



"I think they need to spend some serious time preparing a concession speech," Schmidt said Saturday. "And being focused on initiating in a dignified manner the peaceful transition of power which takes place on January 20th."



"The first person who addresses Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night is Madam President-Elect that matters is Donald Trump," Schmidt declared. "He's indicated that he has no intention of conceding this election in a normal manner. And it's very dangerous for American democracy."



"The campaign has been so mean, so vile, so small, so diminishing to a great country and will have an impact on our civics after it's over, for sure," Schmidt said of Trump's candidacy.



Schmidt on MSNBC Saturday:





ALEX WITT, MSNBC: So giving your vast experience, advising Republican campaigns, were you to be advising Donald Trump, what would you say? You've got to do this, this weekend. Is there anything?



STEVE SCHMIDT: Well, look. I think when you look at this -- when you look at where the race is right now, Hillary Clinton will be elected the 45th president of the United States. And so now it's time, particularly because of the rhetoric from Donald Trump, about the rigged election, about his assaults on the process by which we choose the leaders.



I think they need to spend some serious time preparing a concession speech. And being focused on initiating in a dignified manner the peaceful transition of power which takes place on January 20th. The process commences when the losing candidate picks up the phone, calls the winning candidate. The first person who addresses Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night is Madam President-Elect that matters is Donald Trump. And he's indicated that he has no intention of conceding this election in a normal manner. And it's very dangerous for American democracy.



ALEX WITT: So you're telling this is what he should do. But what do you expect he will do in the fallout?



STEVE SCHMIDT: I don't know what he'll do. It has been a highly unusual campaign. When you look at all of the things that have been outside the norms of this. The intimations of violence. The threats and intimidation towards a free press. The questioning of the legitimacy of our electoral system. The fact that Republicans have been cheerleading the actions of a hostile foreign power, Russia, with regard to the e-mail hacks. The intervention of the FBI director, 11 days from the election, and now the serial leaking within the FBI, like a secret police organization from some banana republic.



These are so far outside the normal boundaries of American politics, that when this election ends, there will be downrange consequences for it. The campaign has been so mean, so vile, so small, so diminishing to a great country and will have an impact on our civics after it's over, for sure...



I think you have every possibility to see a rupture inside the Republican party. The alt-right movement, which has surfaced above the waterline is part of this campaign, cannot coexist, peacefully with the decent elements in the Republican party who believe in conservatism but reject the racism, the xenophobia, the misogyny that we've seen play out, all across this campaign.