Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” political commentator Bill Kristol gave his take on Republican lawmakers and conservative pundits publicly scrutinizing the FBI, saying it was “serious conspiracy theorizing” that just a short time ago he didn’t think would be possible.

“I mean, it’s funny, but it’s sad,” Kristol said. “I mean the Joe McCarthy clip you showed earlier — it’s sort first time, tragedy, second time, farce in a way, right? It’s not a farce, I mean — what really strikes me is Bannon is gone, the alt-right is sort of discredited. But Bannonism is winning. Look at the Hill Republicans, look at the conservative commentators, many of them — they are now in the possession of serious conspiracy theorizing, paranoia, hostility to basic American government institutions in a way that I would have a year, 18 months ago would have been impossible.”

 

Kristol went on to rip his former employer Fox News and suggested some of what has been aired in primetime on the network was in part due to the departure of its long-time head Roger Ailes.

“You’re in a different world with what’s happening now,” he added.

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor