Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) argued there is a “lesson” to be learned after President Donald Trump fired Pam Bondi as attorney general.

“The AG is supposed to be the nation’s chief law enforcement officer and have an independent gravitas and integrity,” the senator said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Telling moderator Kristen Welker that Bondi “threw all that away, and she still got fired,” he continued, “So look. You can either go in as an attorney general and stand up for the rule of law, and you may make Donald Trump mad. Or you can go in and try to just do everything the president wants, and you’re [still] going to make him mad.”

Kaine said Bondi “basically sold out her own integrity,” and as a result, “couldn’t even look at herself in a mirror.”

“And she still got sacked,” he added. “That should be a lesson to whoever is the next nominee for AG. Be the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, and don’t let the president cause you to trim your conscience or become a toady.”

The Virginia senator, who voted yes on Trump’s DHS secretary nominee Kristi Noem, another recently fired Trump official, made the remarks after Welker asked him if he would be “open to voting yes on President Trump’s pick to become the next attorney general.”

“I never start off as an automatic no,” Kaine responded. “We’ll see who the president proposes. If you get elected as president, I think that should carry a mandate to put in an executive team. If somebody is not qualified or has [a] lack of character, I’ll vote no. But I never start off as a no.”

Trump announced Bondi’s departure last week on his Truth Social platform after multiple outlets reported he had fired her.

According to The New York Times, Bondi reportedly asked the president if she could keep her position until the summer, to which Trump apparently refused. Bondi was reportedly axed over her mishandling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and for her failure to prosecute Trump’s political enemies.

Watch Kaine’s appearance on “Meet the Press” below. Skip to the 11:54 mark to hear the senator’s comments.

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