'He plans to do it again': MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace pushes back against Trump admin advisor

Former Trump national security advisor John Bolton tangoed with MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace over his belief that whatever swamp draining Trump did to disrupt the country's institutions during his term in office — it didn't ruin or undo them.

"I do not believe that Trump represents an existential threat to democracy," Bolton told her. "And I think that probably puts me at a minority on this network."

He then backed up his reasons why he believes Trump's legacy as president wasn't a wrecking ball, maintaining that the institutions and the Constitution are strong.

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But Bolton caveated, saying: "He will do enormous damage, but you have to diagnose the problem accurately."

He thinks that calls for people (especially the press) to quit emoting negatively against everything Trump.

"If you overstate the threat, you risk turning people off who won't believe it," said Bolton. "If you understate the threat, you may not be prepared."

And for Bolton, Trump's efforts in D.C. weren't indelible.

"I think the damage he did in his first term is largely reparable," he said. "I'm worried the damage he'll do in his second term may be irreparable. Once you start down the slide of the abuse of power that Trump is engaged in, it's only a matter of time before Democratic presidents do the same thing."

Wallace made clear that Bolton was given a substantial amount of time — 13 minutes — to express his points and stressed that she was still confused by his subdued interpretation of the upcoming election.

"So, in the minority or not, there's an interest and understanding of how people who see the world you do are looking at their choices in the election, and what I'm trying to square is the urgency and the fervor of your warnings and what you say you're going to do."

"And again, voting can be private so I appreciate you disclosing what you're going to do in the first place — but how do you look at maligning and saying you're maligning the press, simply so that no one believes what they see or hear?"

Wallace contends that the press like her are going by what they see and hear Trump doing and saying.

She then asked: "How do you align him wanting to end the American transition of a peaceful transfer of power? How can you say that those aren't autocratic tools from the tool kit?"

Bolton interjected: "Well, if he could get away with it."

Wallace answered instantly: "He did!"

That had Bolton trying to argue that whatever Trump tried to do to stay in power, "he's no longer president" and he noted "he failed to steal the election."

To which Wallace responded: "Well, he plans to do it again."

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