MSNBC host Nicolle said that she had previously told then-presidential candidate Jeb Bush that "he should have punched" President Donald Trump "in the face" after one of the primary debates in 2016.
During an episode of Wallace's show "Deadline: White House" on MSNBC on Thursday, she was discussing Bush's feud with Trump. Bush and Trump used to have heated debates in 2015 and 2016 before the former governor of Florida dropped out of the race. Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele was discussing one instance when Bush called out Trump during a Republican debate.
"Let me tell you, that Jeb Bush moment on that stage, if any of the Republican on that stage backed Jeb Bush up when he went after Trump and called him out, it would be a very different...," Steele said before Wallace interjected.
MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace says she encouraged Jeb Bush to physically attack Donald Trump: "I told Jeb Bush after that debate that I thought he should have punched [Trump] in the face."
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) October 11, 2018
Wallace says Bush would have been "a hero" if he would have violently attacked Trump. pic.twitter.com/VT7aBWJTMq
"I told Jeb Bush after the debate that I thought he should have punched him in the face," Wallace said. "Even if you lost, he insulted your wife, he came down the escalator and called Mexicans rapists and murderers — he said, 'What do you think I should have done?' I said, 'I think you should have punched him in the face and then gotten out of the race. You would have been a hero.'"
Donald Trump Jr., Trump's eldest son, quickly responded to Wallace's comments on Twitter.
"Is anyone shocked that the left wants people to resort to violence?" Trump Jr. tweeted.
Wallace, who used to serve as the White House Communications Director under President George W. Bush and in his 2004 reelection campaign, has been one of Trump's biggest critics. In January, Wallace said Trump was running the White House "like a freak show" after he reportedly called Africa and Haiti "shithole countries," The Hill previously reported.
"Donald Trump disgraced the country if what is reported out of this meeting is true," Wallace previously said.
During the Republican primary, then-candidate Trump repeatedly insulted Bush and called him "low energy," a phrase that would stick with him throughout the campaign in 2015 and 2016. Bush was also known for throwing insults at Trump during the debates.
During a talk at Yale University in March, Bush said he was thankful to come home to children who "actually love me" after facing off against Trump during the 2016 Republican primaries and losing.
"I'm not going to talk about the 2016 election," Bush said at the time, according to the Yale Daily News. "I'm still in therapy."
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