Former GOP Gov. Bill Weld, who is trying to primary Trump, suggests the president could be executed for treason

Former Gov. Bill Weld (R-Mass.), a long shot Republican candidate attempting to primary President Donald Trump, told the hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he thought Trump was guilty of treason and could be executed for it.

What did he say?

"Talk about pressuring a foreign country to interfere with and control a U.S. election, it couldn't be clearer," Weld said Monday morning. "And that's not just undermining democratic institutions. That is treason. It's treason, pure and simple. And the penalty for treason under the U.S. code is death. That's the only penalty. The penalty under the Constitution is removal from office and that might look like a pretty good alternative to the president if he can work out a plea deal."

Weld was referring to a whistleblower's recent accusation that Trump asked the president of Ukraine to work with former New York City Mayor (and current Trump lawyer) Rudy Giuliani on an investigation of Hunter Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden. The elder Biden has admitted in the past to pressuring a former president of Ukraine to fire a prosecutor who happened to be disliked by a natural gas firm where Hunter Biden was a board member. The prosecutor had been investigating the company and Hunter Biden.

When he was asked by MSNBC political analyst Elise Jordan to confirm what the "legal framework" for executing a president for treason was, Weld responded:

Well, the legal framework is under the U.S. criminal code. The only penalty for treason is death, spelled out in the statute. Under the Constitution, you know, grounds for removal from office, impeachment, and removal from any federal office, are treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

We don't have to worry about bribery anymore, although I think he's committed that, we don't have to worry about other high crimes and misdemeanors, although I think he committed many...we've got treason.

He also called Trump a "lawless man" who had to be "carted off to save us all."