General Michael Hayden appeared with CNN’s Don Lemon late Tuesday night, and called Donald Trump Jr.’s latest comments on the expanding Russia investigation “scary” and “an appeal to the heart of autocracy.”

President Donald Trump’s son spoke before a group of conservative college students in Florida on Wednesday, and spoke extensively about the investigation into his father’s former campaign ties to Russia, calling it a “rigged system” and declaring “there are people at the highest levels of government that don’t want to let America be America.”

Lemon played a clip of Don Jr.’s remarks for Hayden, before asking the general if he thought Don Jr. was pushing conspiracy theories about the U.S. government.

“I have to confess when I first heard that earlier this evening — that was a little scary scary, that is an appeal to the heart of autocracy, and challenging the patriotism of those folks who work in the United States government,” Hayden replied.

When asked why the president’s son would make such comments, Hayden said he wasn’t sure if Don Jr. has been “marked by cool, calm judgment in his public utterances in the past,” but said that his comments suggest that “in their heart of hearts they don’t think this investigation is going to a happy place, at least not a happy place from their point of view.”

Hayden noted that he is not “predicting criminal indictments about collusion or anything like that.”

“But as the investigation goes on, we learn more and more about the synchronization of activities of the Trump campaign, including by the president’s son, by Wikileaks and the actions of the Russia federation.”

Watch above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

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