Steve Schmidt, who is advising former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on an independent presidential bid, abruptly walked off his own podcast when co-host Adam Levine pressed him on how Schultz could actually get the 270 electoral votes he needed to win, the Daily Beast reports.

SCHMIDT: This is bullshit. I’m not doing this.

LEVINE: Steve, you’ve got to answer the questions.

SCHMIDT: I’m not.

And with that, Schmidt slammed down his headset and abruptly ended the interview.

“He threatened legal action against the studio if the interview airs, according to a source involved in the discussion. When his legal threat failed, he offered to buy the recording… The studio refused.”

Howard Schultz adviser Steve Schmidt told Politico that the former Starbucks CEO would save the Democratic Party from nominating “someone who is so far to the left that it guarantees Trump a reelection.”

Said Schmidt: “They have done polling to gauge a potential path for Schultz, and they argue that if Schultz runs, he will open up presidential politics to not only independent voters, but to a swath of non-battleground states that campaigns typically ignore.”

Dave Weigel has another view: “One fallacy you’ll never see me fall for is that an election between Trump and ‘someone on the left like Warren’ would leave a huge path in the middle. If you’re saying that, find me the polls and point to the unpopular idea the left is running on. There isn’t one.”