Former Attorney General Eric Holder demands that current Attorney General Jeff Sessions have the guts to stand up to President Donald Trump and tell him no if need be.

In the wake of the controversial firing of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe just hours before he was set to retire, Holder criticized Sessions during a speaking engagement at Georgetown University Monday for acting on behalf of Trump.  

"It may be that at the end of the day … [McCabe's] termination is appropriate," Holder said. "But you know, you don’t rush that component of it to meet a deadline that I think the president essentially set. You're the Attorney General of the United States. You run the damn Justice Department. You know? And you’ve got to have the guts to look at the president every now and again and say 'no.'"

Holder's comments aren't unusual. He's been a vocal critic of many of the president's policies since the very beginning of the Trump administration. He urged the State Department to be strong and prepared as more attacks by the administration threaten their work.

Trump celebrated McCabe's firing Saturday on Twitter calling it a "great day for democracy." The Twitter attack is one among many by the president. According to The Hill, McCabe has been accused of leaking information and corruption by Trump, prompting his untimely firing. 

While speaking to Mo Elleithee, the executive director of Georgetown’s Institute of Politics & Public Service, Holder lambasted Trump for attacking McCabe knowing he was unable to defend himself.

"You’re the President of the United States and you’re going after a career deputy FBI director … who doesn’t really have the capacity to defend himself, certainly while he was in that position," he said.

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