On the April 20 edition of MSNBC Live, during a discussion of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) recent assertion that the Iraq war “is lost” -- which he followed by stating that it “can only be won diplomatically, politically, and economically” -- Republican strategist Brad Blakeman said that Reid “is absolutely, 100 percent wrong” and that "[h]is statements give aid and comfort to our enemy and demoralize our troops."

Media Matters for America documented a similar assertion Blakeman made regarding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) recent meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus. On the April 6 edition of MSNBC Live, Blakeman said that Pelosi “abandoned her post up on Capitol Hill” and went to Syria “to give aid and comfort to him [Assad] instead of funding our troops.”

According to Article III of the U.S. Constitution, "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort."

From the 3 p.m. ET hour of the April 20 edition of MSNBC Live:

MIKA BRZEZINSKI (host): Brad, let me get you to respond to that, but let me add this, that GOP lawmakers are responding to Reid's comment. And let's just take a quick listen to what [Sen] John McCain [R-AZ] had to say.

McCAIN [video clip]: Having just come from Iraq, that's not the view of the men and women who are putting their lives on the line as we speak.

BRZEZINSKI: Brad, your response. First of all, is he right?

BLAKEMAN: No, he's -- John McCain is right. The majority leader of the Senate is absolutely, 100 percent wrong. His statements give aid and comfort to our enemy and demoralize our troops. To say “the war is lost” is outrageous.