MSNBC host Joe Scarborough has spent the days since the Florida school shooting advocating for an assault weapons ban and railing in no uncertain terms against the National Rifle Association. Yet documents revealed in 2013 by the Daily Caller and recently republished by Grabien show that, as a Congressional candidate, Scarborough had nothing but glowing words for the NRA.
On Thursday, NewsBusters covered Scarborough’s absurd rant against congressional Republicans and the NRA, in which he spat fiery rhetoric about “useful idiots” and “domestic terrorist enablers” playing a complicit role in the murders of children. Grabien reported Friday that Scarborough had doubled down, first by accusing gun manufacturers of “profiting off of children being slaughtered in school,” and then by arguing that “it’s not a constitutional right to have assault weapons.”
Good luck telling that to candidate Joe. When Scarborough was running to represent Florida’s 1st District, he defined assault weapons as “anything the government would fear the people could use to protect their rights.”
Okay, so he did a complete 180 on assault rifles. But what did he think about the NRA – the aforementioned “domestic terrorist enablers” – as an organization?
The NRA must elect & support candidates who will view the gun rights issue as a constitutional battle. The founding fathers did not give us the 2nd amendment to protect our rights to shoot ducks. Our constitutional right to bear arms is so we may protect our family in the manner we choose. No compromise!
It gets better.
The Washington Post published a Friday op-ed titled, “It’s time for courage from Republicans” by none other than Scarborough himself, in which he calls the modern Republican Party’s policies “indefensible.” After throwing the Post’s readers some customary concessions, professing his support of “a pathway to citizenship for the ‘dreamers’” and his misgivings about the new tax reform, he spends the rest of the article calling for further gun control legislation.
While Scarborough stated his continued support for the 2nd Amendment, he attempted to re-interpret Justice Scalia’s District of Columbia v. Heller decision just a few paragraphs later. He surmised that the late Justice would have classified assault rifles as “dangerous and unusual weapons,” and thus would have supported banning them. Readers will be relieved to learn Scarborough is not currently being considered for any future judicial nominations.
Mika Brzezinski, Scarborough’s co-host and fiancee, quipped on Thursday that Florida’s Republican Senator would not be welcome on the set of Morning Joe until he was ready to talk about enacting new legislation to restrict firearm ownership. One wonders whether Congressman Scarborough would have been subjected to similar treatment from his future fiancee.
Click here to see the documents filled out by Joe Scarborough.
