MSNBC anchor Chuck Todd began his Thursday afternoon broadcast of MTP Daily by solemnly telling his audience that following President Donald Trump’s public call for the Chinese to investigate his potential 2020 rival, a “national nightmare is upon us.”

Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn on Thursday morning, the president urged China to probe former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, claiming that “what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine.” Trump, who is currently facing an impeachment inquiry for pressuring the Ukrainian president to dig up dirt on the Bidens, also called on Ukraine Thursday to “start a major investigation” into the Biden family.

“I do not say this lightly,” an ashen-faced Todd said. “Let’s be frank, a national nightmare is upon us. The basic rules of our democracy are under attack, from the president.”

Noting that the president openly admitted to seeking foreign influence in the 2020 election, the Meet the Press host pointed out that thus far “Republicans have been silent on what we have seen from the president.”

Highlighting the president’s remarks, Todd then expressed his belief that we are entering an extremely dark moment in our nation's history.

“Donald Trump is using the power of his office to solicit interference in the 2020 presidential election—while doing it relying on a debunked conspiracy or two,” he said. “This is not hearsay or a whistleblower’s complaint or a memorandum of a phone conversation. You heard the president do it himself on the White House lawn.”

“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,” Todd added.

Once again noting that the GOP has failed to condemn Trump, Todd concluded that this was “remarkable considering the precedent it would set and the lasting damage it would do to our democracy.”

“It is tough to say lightly,” he sighed. “But this is the moment we are at."