Joe Scarborough's white-hot hatred of Donald Trump apparently extends to members of the President's administration. On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough launched a nasty, personal attack on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. After playing a clip of Pompeo expressing frustration at Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday asking why President Trump didn't bring up election meddling with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, Scarborough came unglued, calling Pompeo an "absolute fool" who is "beneath contempt," complete with his wife's supportive echoing:
JOE SCARBOROUGH: What an absolute fool, Mike Pompeo.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: That was awful.
SCARBOROUGH: I actually spoke with Mike Pompeo before he went in to talk to Donald Trump. I am so sorry I did. What an absolute fool he makes of himself every time he opens his mouth. What a fool he has made of himself on North Korea, what a fool he is making of himself. And how disgraceful, how disgraceful, Mike [Barnicle], that he acts shocked, and accuses Chris Wallace --
MIKA: -- of misleading.
SCARBOROUGH: -- of misleading the viewers. He is beneath contempt. He should be ashamed of himself. He’s doing a disservice to the United States of America. He saw what happened in Helsinki. He heard what happened on that telephone call. When he was in the CIA, he had to go testify, and testify that there was Russian interference, and it posed a risk to the United States of America. And that bumbling, stupid act that he did on Fox News, insulting Chris Wallace —
MIKA: -- and the viewers.
SCARBOROUGH: And the viewers! It’s just disgraceful. It's just disgraceful! Mike Pompeo is unworthy to hold any public office for the rest of his life. And put him at the top of the list of day traders who don't understand: Donald Trump is going to be out of office in a year and a half, and he’s going to be at home, sitting at home because he’s disgracing himself every day, attacking Chris Wallace, attacking Fox News Sunday, and attacking the viewers.
It's not every day that an MSNBC host comes running to the defense of any Fox News show. But don't take Scarborough too seriously when he breaks out the crystal ball. In 2016, I noted Joe predicted “Barry Goldwater is going to look like an extremely successful candidate" by comparison. Goldwater carried six states in 1964. Trump carried 30.
Ironically, Wallace acknowledged that Pompeo had a point that the Trump administration has been tough on Russia. Pompeo expressed confusion: "You have an administration that has been tougher on Russia than any of its predecessors, and yet you continue to be fixated on something that Robert Mueller wrote down. I struggle with that."
Wallace said "I'm not fixated on Robert Mueller. I'm fixated on the President's conversation with Vladimir Putin, and the fact that in a conversation, he doesn't even mention meddling in 2020." The question is fair, but the fixation is a "mainstream" media fixation. If Hillary Clinton had won, the fixation would be elsewhere.
