Audio from a 2016 interview of Trump’s EPA chief Scott Pruitt — who was the Senator from Oklahoma at the time — has surfaced and the words he had about the president he now works for are startlingly blunt.

Pruitt didn’t mince words in the radio interview with Oklahoma radio host Pat Campbell, telling Campbell he believed “Donald Trump in the White House would be more abusive to the Constitution than Barack Obama – and that’s saying a lot.”

He went on to share his concern that Trump would act in ways and wield presidential power “to confront Congress in a way that is truly unconstitutional.”

Stark words from a man who, as Axios described it, “went on to pledge their loyal support to the president following his election.”

That’s a valid point.

But it also speaks to the fact that traditional conservatives and establishment G.O.P., like Pruitt and others, had a choice to make once Donald Trump won the White House: Take their ball and go home or accept positions in the Trump administration, and try to effect change in the government in a way those in the executive branch can.

The EPA, Health and Human Services, and so many other governmental departments Republicans hadn’t had their hands on in nearly a decade.

We’ve seen how poorly things have gone for those from the Trump campaign brought into the White House. Pruitt is one of those who doesn’t necessarily like Trump, but accepted a post in his administration where he has rolled back onerous regulations, and made Democrats squeal…you know, if you’re in to stuff like that.