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Former Rep. David Jolly soaks up exposure as Republican critical of Trump

 
Former U.S. Rep. David Jolly appeared on CNN on Monday.
Former U.S. Rep. David Jolly appeared on CNN on Monday.
Published Feb. 15, 2017

If you've been near cable TV news lately, it's hard to miss former U.S. Rep. David Jolly.

Monday, Jolly began on the set of CNN's New Day and that night was on MSNBC's Last Word before ending with an interview by Brian Williams.

On Tuesday, Jolly taped an interview with Larry King and was on Alan Colmes' Fox News radio show. Another MSNBC "hit" is to come later this week.

All that follows several other cable appearances, and Jolly published an op-ed column in The Hill.

The common tie: Jolly is a Republican willing to criticize President Donald Trump.

Monday on CNN, a lightly bearded, glasses-wearing Jolly said Trump should "stop complaining and do his job. Stop taking on fake news, stop taking on the judiciary, stop taking on senators, John McCain, do your job."

On MSNBC that night, he deemed Trump "a narcissist who likes the loyalty" and blasted the president's decision to use 31-year-old adviser Stephen Miller on Sunday news shows. Not long before National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned, Jolly said: "Flynn's next. He's got to go."

After the Flynn news broke, Jolly was quickly booked to appear with Williams.

The exposure isn't risky for Jolly. He's considering taking on newly elected Rep. Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg, again in a district that tilts Democratic. So expect to see Jolly on TV more as the Trump era continues, knocking the president and fellow Republicans.

"We need a Congress who speaks up against a president who has shown in the past 30 days some very risky behavior as the chief executive," he said on CNN. "One is they're scared that their political career will be destroyed by a tweet from President Trump. The other is stay silent and pass an agenda."