WATCH: Former GOP Governor Challenging Trump 2020 Claims Trump Committed Treason, Adds, ‘The Penalty Under U.S. Code Is Death.’

On Monday morning, MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" interviewed three GOP politicians who have expressed interest in challenging President Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2020: former governors Mark Sanford (R-SC) and William Weld (R-MA) and former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL). During the conversation, Weld stated that President Trump had committed treason, adding, “… the penalty for treason under the U.S. Code is death. That's the only penalty.”

As Newsbusters reports, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough started the exchange by claiming President Trump was “working furiously to actually have the primary elections canceled and wiped off the books and him being declared the winner without one person being able to vote in those states.”

Weld responded:

Well, obviously canceling primaries undermines democratic institutions and democratic elections but that’s far from the deepest dive crime that the President has committed here. He has now acknowledged that in a single phone call right after he suspended $250 million of military aid to Ukraine, he called up the president of Ukraine and pressed him eight times to investigate Joe Biden who the President thinks is going to be running against him. Talk about pressuring a foreign country to interfere with and control a U.S. election. It couldn't be clearer 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 on 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.

Scarborough turned to Walsh: "Congressman Joe Walsh. Do you agree?"

Walsh responded:

Yeah, Joe, this isn't complicated. I begin where you ended five or ten minutes ago. Donald Trump needs to be impeached, period. As Bill Weld just said, he told a foreign leader two months ago to interfere in our 2020 election. He needs to be impeached. He has obstructed justice. In 2016, he encouraged and welcomed Russian interference in our election. He is a king. He is a would-be dictator. This isn't complicated. 2020 is a referendum on Trump. It's not about any issue. It's not about the debt. It's not about tariffs. It's about this man who is unfit, this man who is a clear and present danger to this country. If my party, the Republican Party, continues their cowardly silence, the party will be dead after 2020.

Later, MSNBC's Elise Jordan, who was on the panel interviewing the GOP politicians, returned to Weld: "Governor Weld, you went a little bit further than just impeachment in your prior comments And I just want to continue with that a bit."

Weld: "Sure."

Jordan: "You said that Donald Trump has committed treason and the penalty for treason under American law is death. Do you — what's the legal framework here? Have you looked into this? What — how do you see this proceeding?"

Weld answered:

Well, the legal framework is under the U.S. Code. The only penalty for treason is death. It’s spelled out in a statute. Under the Constitution as 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’s committed many. He’s such a lawless man. We’ve got treason and we don’t have to dribble around the court. We can go right for the hoop. But this President has been trying to cancel this election for months. He tried to cancel the New Hampshire first in the nation primary. Well, that went over like a lead balloon in New Hampshire because they're not stupid. So, the people in New Hampshire were really the first ones to stand up to President Trump this year, but the time has come.

It's well past time for this guy, in my opinion, to be colloquial, to be carted off to save us all. He's daring us all to let him be totally lawless. He has no respect for the law. He doesn’t understand the law. He has no knowledge base under any issues. Why do we want this man as President of the United States? I don't get it and now the path is clear. It's a whole new level, and we have to count noses among the Republicans in the Senate and if they won't say this is a bridge too far for us, then they really as — as Congressman Walsh said, I totally agree, they have no chance at the ballot box next year, not just President Trump but those members of the Senate.

Video below: