President Donald Trump's criticism of American law enforcement and praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin drew widespread yowls of criticism Monday, with former CIA Director John Brennan calling Trump's performance "nothing short of treasonous."

Even hosts at Fox News, which rarely misses a chance to praise Trump when many others are blasting him, were stunned by Trump's refusal to condemn Putin for what U.S. intelligence agencies have said is solid evidence of Russia's sustained effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Fox Business host Neil Cavuto called Trump's performance "disgusting." Fox News political analyst Brit Hume called it "lame."

Trump in a joint news conference with Putin in Helsinki said that both the United States and Russia were to blame for what he also called the worst relationship between the two countries in their history.

Twitter exploded with condemnation of Trump's supine stance toward Putin, with Republican and Democratic elected officials alike blasting the president.

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Brennan, appearing on MSNBC, elaborated on his scathing criticism, saying, "I cannot understand how the national security team can continue to abide by this and how [Secretary of State] Mike Pompeo and [National Security Advisor John} Bolton and [White House Chief of Staff] John Kelly can continue in their jobs."

"This I think rises to the point of good American patriots resigning in objection to that performance by Donald Trump," continued Brennan, who is a contributor and analyst for national security and intelligence issues for both MSNBC and NBC News.

"I'm at a loss of words to describe just how outrageous his statements, his behavior, has been."