Flying solo with fiancé Mika Brzezinski off ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, fellow co-host and faux Republican Joe Scarborough helmed the Morning Joe ship on Wednesday and opened with a seven-minute, uninterrupted rant against his former friend-turned-President Donald Trump, deeming him an illegitimate President who’s “Nixonian” and “Stalinist” in light of his Khashoggi statement and a report he ordered political enemies investigated.
Scarborough opened the show by observing that Trump was “[a]fraid of Bob Mueller, afraid of being in a war zone, and afraid to even challenge Saudi Arabia, but after all, there's nothing to fear by fear itself and Donald Trump seems to have a lot of that these days.”
Pretending as if he were never a fan of Trump, he gushed and flaunted the national midterm vote that’s a sign of clownishness (click “expand”):
As the scope and the scale of the midterms becomes clear, we're actually getting a chance now, unfortunately, to see the worst of Donald Trump and we’re watching his devastating impact on this country and on his Republican Party play out on vivid display. You know, regardless of what Republicans try to tell you, there was — there was no split decision in the midterms. Democrats keep racking up more House seats by the day and they're going to end up winning the national popular congressional vote in the House by over eight percent. That’s a historic rout. In fact, there’s never been as big a win as the Democrats have had in the House this off term election. Unfortunately, we're learning by the hour that a repudiated, a rejected Donald Trump is actually more dangerous, more radical, and more unhinged than the Donald Trump we watched the first two years and yesterday bought — brought us a compendium of the bleakest elements of Donald Trump's immorality, openly siding with the Saudis, even as their leader was declared a cold blooded murderer by the U.S. intel community, Saudi thugs, they brought a bone saw to ambush an American resident and a Washington Post columnist.
This was when Scarborough stated that he was “going from Nixonian to Stalinist as The New York Times reported” that the President had inquired earlier in his presidency about investigating Hillary Clinton and James Comey despite the fact that, also on Tuesday, he was “blithely defending his daughter’s personal use of e-mails also for government business with dozens of unanswered questions that still suggest that her conduct could have been every bit as egregious as Hillary Clinton’s.”
He added that Trump has stood by his “corrupt, manifestly unqualified acting attorney general and the most racially insensitive Senate candidate in decades runoff in a Mississippi.” Her name is Cynthia Hyde-Smith, but you do you, Joe.
“He’s forfeited any claim of being a legitimate President. He did that long ago. I find it hard to see how he could seek, let alone win the presidency in 2020. I don't think he's going to run because at the end of the day, he didn't want to win in 2016,” Scarborough continued.
The faux Republican went on (click “expand”):
It's not about America's reputation on the globe. It's not about what's best for Middle East policy. For Donald Trump, it’s what’s best for Donald Trump. And not even politically, but financially. What deals can he make in two years when he leaves the White House? Vladimir Putin, he murders journalists. He assassinates political rivals. No problem....Let's see what is done two years from now between Donald Trump and Russia and the billions of dollars that come his way. See, friends, this isn't about America. This isn’t about politics. This isn't about the Republican Party. This isn't about a re-election campaign. This is about Donald Trump gathering as many chits as he can until he leaves office because he's not thinking about re-election. He's thinking about all the money he can make as ex-President[.]
Before bringing on his panel of yes-men and women, Scarborough gleefully asserted that “[i]t’s only going to get worse for Donald Trump” because he’s “destroyed his own presidency and he is showing us his soul a little more every day or rather, some would say his lack of one.”
This built to his conclusion (click “expand”):
In the wake of the midterm super-shellacking, the entire Republican Party is still standing in full support of its dear leader. Don’t show me your tweets. Don’t give me your speeches. Show me your courage. Show me your resolve that you want to put your country, that you want to put the conservative movement, that you want to put your party ahead of Donald Trump. But time’s running out for the sake of history and for the fake of the conservative moment and one of the nation's two political parties, good men and good women who want a future for the GOP need to stand up and speak out today. Or their fate will be fully intertwined with this man who is crashing and burning right before their eyes. Republicans, you think 2018 was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet.
While Scarborough might try to convince people that he’s a voice of reason, there’s plenty that recall his decision to propel Trump over his Republican opponents in the primary, doing his best impression of Chris Matthews sucking up to Barack Obama.
Sarah Quinlan wrote an exhaustive July 2017 item for National Review of Scarborough’s flip-flop from Trump Train operator to Resistance hero, including repeated instances of when he gushed over Trump by comparing him to Ronald Reagan. Our friends at the Washington Free Beacon also put together a super-cut of the Morning Joe-Trump love affair in March 2016.
And yet, look where we are. So for Joe and Mika to sound the alarm about the President over the last two years or so has symbolized peak hypocrisy.
To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Morning Joe on November 21, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
November 21, 2018
6:00 a.m. Eastern
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Afraid of Bob Mueller, afraid of being in a war zone, and afraid to even challenge Saudi Arabia. But after all, there's nothing to fear by fear itself and Donald Trump seems to have a lot of that these days. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe this Wednesday, November 21st. You know, I’ve been just thinking. As the scope and the scale of the midterms becomes clear, we're actually getting a chance now, unfortunately, to see the worst of Donald Trump and we’re watching his devastating impact on this country and on his Republican Party play out on vivid display. You know, regardless of what Republicans try to tell you, there was — there was no split decision in the midterms. Democrats keep racking up more House seats by the day and they're going to end up winning the national popular congressional vote in the House by over eight percent. That’s a historic route. In fact, there’s never been as big a win as the Democrats have had in the House this off term election. Unfortunately, we're learning by the hour that a repudiated, a rejected Donald Trump is actually more dangerous, more radical, and more unhinged than the Donald Trump we watched the first two years and yesterday bought — brought us a compendium of the bleakest elements of Donald Trump's immorality, openly siding with the Saudis.
Even as their leader was declared a cold blooded murderer by the U.S. intel community, Saudi thugs, they brought a bone saw to ambush an American resident and a Washington Post columnist. I’m going from Nixonian to Stalinist as The New York Times reported, repeatedly and petulantly demanding the tools of the Justice Department would be used to go after his perceived political enemies, Hillary Clinton and James Comey, blithely defending his daughter’s personal use of e-mails also for government business with dozens of unanswered questions that still suggest that her conduct could have been every bit as egregious as Hillary Clinton’s. We just don’t know yet. He was also standing by a corrupt, manifestly unqualified acting attorney general and the most racially insensitive Senate candidate in decades runoff in a Mississippi that Donald Trump, by doing that and everything else that we saw just yesterday and what he’s done over the past two years. He's forfeited any claim of being a legitimate President. He did that long ago. I find it hard to see how he could seek, let alone win the presidency in 2020. I don't think he's going to run because at the end of the day, he didn't want to win in 2016. As I’ve told you time and time again, with Donald Trump, it is all about money. Sell out to the Saudis even when your Intel community tells you that they’re run by a murderer. No problem with Donald Trump. It's not about America's reputation on the globe. It's not about what's best for Middle East policy. For Donald Trump, it’s what’s best for Donald Trump. And not even politically, but financially. What deals can he make in two years when he leaves the White House? Vladimir Putin, he murders journalists. He assassinates political rivals. No problem
Never mind what the CIA says about the Russians trying to subvert American democracy. Never mind that the head of his own Homeland Security Department said that Vladimir Putin and Russia poses a risk to American democracy. Donald Trump said: “You know, I don't believe the intel communities. But Putin gave me his word.” Let's see what is done two years from now between Donald Trump and Russia and the billions of dollars that come his way. See, friends, this isn't about America. This isn’t about politics. This isn't about the Republican Party. This isn't about a re-election campaign. This is about Donald Trump gathering as many chits as he can until he leaves office because he's not thinking about re-election. He's thinking about all the money he can make as ex-President, so if it doesn't make sense to you, what he’s doing, maybe you should just remember what Woodward and Bernstein said during Watergate. Follow the money. And this is not political money. It’s personal money and it’s not money in Trump's pocket now. It's money that he thinks he's going to make two, three, four, five years from now when you can go to the Saudis and say: “Hey, I stood by you when the CIA had evidence that you lured a Washington Post columnist into your embassy, strangled him and then took a bone saw and cut him up.” That's what this is about and guess what? It’s only going to get worse for Donald Trump. With Robert Mueller closing in, Trump has destroyed his own presidency and he is showing us his soul a little more every day or rather, some would say his lack of one. In the wake of the midterm super-shellacking, the entire Republican Party is still standing in full support of its dear leader. Don’t show me your tweets. Don’t give me your speeches. Show me your courage. Show me your resolve that you want to put your country, that you want to put the conservative movement, that you want to put your party ahead of Donald Trump. But time’s running out for the sake of history and for the fake of the conservative moment and one of the nation's two political parties, good men and good women who want a future for the GOP need to stand up and speak out today. Or their fate will be fully intertwined with this man who is crashing and burning right before their eyes. Republicans, you think 2018 was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet.
