Sen. Roy Blunt Roy Dean BluntSenate to push funding bill vote up against shutdown deadline Social media platforms put muscle into National Voter Registration Day Senate GOP faces pivotal moment on pick for Supreme Court MORE (R-Mo.) on Sunday pushed back on President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE’s attacks on Rep. Maxine Waters Maxine Moore WatersPowell, Mnuchin stress limits of current emergency lending programs Pelosi: House will stay in session until agreement is reached on coronavirus relief Omar invokes father's death from coronavirus in reaction to Woodward book MORE’s (D-Calif.) intelligence, saying she is "very smart and very calculating."

"[There are] a lot of things ... you could say about Maxine Waters, but to indicate she’s not a bright person is not one of them," Blunt said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"I embrace her as a person who has given a lot of time to public service and has a different viewpoint than I do, but it’s not a viewpoint that’s not based on her factual viewpoint of the world," Blunt said, referring to Waters.

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Roy Blunt pushes back on President Trump’s attacks on Rep. Maxine Waters. #MTP #IfItsSunday@RoyBlunt: "There are a lot of things, for instance, you could say about Maxine Waters, but to indicate she’s not a bright person is not one of them." pic.twitter.com/WnUejRdDxk — Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) August 5, 2018

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Blunt made these comments when host Chuck Todd pressed him on Trump's attacks on the intelligence of African-American public figures. Trump has often referred to Waters as a "low-IQ individual," sometimes claiming that she is “somewhere in the mid-60s.” Over the weekend, the president also questioned the intelligence of CNN anchor Don Lemon and NBA star LeBron James, both of whom are black.

Todd asked Blunt if he is concerned that Trump is defining the GOP as "anti-black" after reading a tweet from Peter Wehner, a veteran of multiple Republican presidential administrations.

"Trump's made the same criticism of black athletes, black journalists & black Members of Congress," Wehner tweeted. "He attacks their intelligence. His racist appeals aren't even disguised anymore. The closest figure in modern national politics to Trump? George Wallace. Trump now defines the GOP."

Trump's made the same criticism of black athletes, black journalists & black Members of Congress. He attacks their intelligence. His racist appeals aren't even disguised anymore. The closest figure in modern national politics to Trump? George Wallace. Trump now defines the GOP. — Peter Wehner (@Peter_Wehner) August 4, 2018

Blunt said, however, the GOP is "not anti-black."

"I think you’ve got to be more careful in our society about what you say about people who are different from you," Blunt said.