RON BROWNSTEIN:  I think this is part of a broader pattern we have talked about before, the unerring instinct of Donald Trump is also to try to delegitimize any institution he believes can challenge him. From “the fake news media,” to “so-called judges,” to personally denigrating any member of Congress who kind of stands in the way of his agenda. This fits in a long pattern, and it also fits, I think, is kind of the inevitable -- even the floating of this idea -- is the inevitable result of a Republican congressional leadership that has essentially indulged him and explained away and found a way to excuse his excesses at every turn. What Chris Ruddy said on New Day was a lot stronger than what we heard from Paul Ryan this morning. His verb was, he'd be “surprised” if president Trump fired Bob Mueller, not that he would be outraged. Although he said, “also I think we should let him do his job.” I think it is reasonable for Donald Trump to assume that more Republicans than you might expect would accept a move like this. But, you know, again, I think it is a trial balloon. It would be a full-scale constitutional crisis, and I do think you are going to hear very sharp questions not only for Rod Rosenstein, but also for Jeff Sessions about whether he would resign if such an order -- even though he might be outside the chain of command, whether he would resign as Elliot Richardson did in the 1970's, rather than accept Richard Nixon's order to fire Archibald Cox. 

Previously:

Former Bush DOJ official: “It's absolutely despicable” that Trump media allies are attacking Robert Mueller

Trump's media allies want him to fire special counsel Mueller - and he may be listening

Right-wing media attack FBI Russia probe special counsel Robert Mueller