Friday on MSNBC, political commentator Bill Kristol called Republicans “cowardly” for not condemning President Donald Trump for his attacks on the so-called “The Squad,” made up of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN).

Kristol said, “It’s always worse to exploit these divisions in a cynical way. It’s terrible to be a sincere racist too, but in a way, the cynicism combined with the racism is particularly damaging to the country. It’s a sad day honestly and what is sad is the failure of Republicans to step up and really say this is unacceptable.”

He continued, “The failure of republicans is not just—it is cowardice, and they think it might work politically, but at this point, we’re way beyond all of that. It’s one thing to hide and be timid in the face of some stupid policies or some, you know, a little over the top attacks on your opponent or something like that, but this is really getting at the heart, I think, this is the point in the Atlantic—at the heart of what America stands for. At the heart of our civil peace and comedy and a common vision for politics and for Republicans to go along with the president is really disgraceful.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN