Meet the Press: Daily host Chuck Todd pulled no punches in his stunning opening monologue Thursday, warning that President Donald Trump’s open call for foreign governments to investigate potential 2020 rival Joe Biden represented “a national nightmare” that, if left completely unchecked by Republicans, could inflict “lasting damage” to our democracy.

Todd was reacting to the jaw-dropping moment on Thursday when Trump, while standing on the White House South Lawn, solicited both Ukraine and China in investigating Biden for corruption.

“Let’s be frank, a national nightmare is upon us, The basic rules of our democracy are under attack from the president,” Todd warned. “We begin tonight with a serious admission by the president that all but assures his impeachment in the House of Representatives. It’s a moment of truth for Republicans and they’ve been largely silent on what we have seen from the president. Today, he publicly called on two foreign governments to interfere in the election by investigating his chief 2020 political rival.”

Todd went on to point out that Trump’s very public request undermined nearly every one of the current Republican Party talking points in his defense.

“This is not hearsay. This is not a leak. This is not a whistleblower complaint. It’s not a memorandum of a phone conversation. You heard the president himself do it himself on the White House lawn,” Todd said somberly. “This moment should arguably be a national emergency. The Founding Fathers would have considered it a national emergency if the president publicly lobbied multiple foreign governments to interfere in the next election. And yet there has been virtually no condemnation for the president’s party at all on this remark, which is remarkable considering the precedent it would set and the lasting damage it would do to our democracy. It is tough to say lightly, but this is the moment where we’re at.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.

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