In a rare tweet, former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw is weighing in on Republicans who are saying President Trump's rookie status in government may be to blame for seemingly improper requests he allegedly made to former FBI Director James Comey.

Brokaw was responding Friday to comments from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who defended Trump after Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee the day before.

Comey revealed during his highly anticipated congressional testimony on Thursday that Trump had asked him in private conversations to pledge his loyalty and to drop the FBI's investigation into fired national security adviser Michael Flynn.

But in the wake of that hearing, some Republicans, including Ryan, rushed to Trump's defense, arguing that, while the reported requests were inappropriate, the president likely meant no harm and had done so only because he wasn't familiar with government protocol.

"I'm not saying it's an acceptable excuse. It's just my observation," Ryan told reporters. "He's new at government and so, therefore, I think that he's learning as he goes."

Brokaw's rejection of that excuse references Trump's former role as the host of the television game show "The Apprentice," in which he would gradually eliminate contestants with the signature catch phrase, "You're fired."

As a presidential candidate, Trump campaigned as a financially successful Washington outsider driven to shake up the country's political establishment. But since taking office, Trump has faced a steady stream of controversies over his potential conflicts of interest, inflammatory rhetoric and ongoing investigations into possible collusion between his campaign and Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.