On Sunday, President Trump rightly came under fire for saying in a tweet that four left-wing congresswomen should “go back to where they came from” because of their hatred for America. It was a very misguided tweet from the President. Those four members of Congress should be criticized for their radical views and not on the basis of their ancestry.
For MSNBC's Morning Joe, however, a single tweet from the President is always an indictment on Republicans all across America. On Monday's show, host Joe Scarborough said that Republicans, on the basis of a tweet, have “embraced the racial ideology of David Duke.”
The segment started with Scarborough and panelist Mike Barnicle suggesting that Republicans care more about winning re-election than the good of the country:
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Where are all of these people that should be--this is not hard, Mike Barnicle. This is what all of America used to criticize David Duke for saying five years ago and this is why David Duke has publicly time and again celebrated the Presidency of Donald Trump. Is that where the Republican Party wants to be? Because that's where they are right now.
MIKE BARNICLE: They are cowering in the corner. They are a party now that is not only mute as you pointed out, Joe, they now have no conscience. They care more about their jobs than they do about the country. They have a President of the United States, you can talk about diversion, he did this to deflect this, to get our attention over there instead of here. No. What he did yesterday, that's who he is. That's who he is. First question that ought to be asked Donald Trump in any public forum is when you hear the word America, Mr. President, tell us what you think it means. What do you see in that word? And it won't be what this country really is all about.
Then, Scarborough dropped the vile assertion that all Republicans believe in the ideology of David Duke:
And Mika, in the poll that we showed that showed Donald Trump losing to Bernie Sanders by seven points, Joe Biden by nine points, Elizabeth Warren by five points, nine out of ten Republicans approve of Donald Trump's performance as President. Let me say that again. Nine out of ten Republicans approve of Donald Trump's performance as President of the United States, a performance that has included one racist screed after another. So this is not just about Donald Trump. This is not just about elected leaders in Washington, D.C. This is about a political party now that has embraced the racial ideology of David Duke. Good luck with that in the years to come. Because you are going to be left on the dust bin of political history, Republicans.
The attempt to pigeonhole the entire Republican Party with the words of President Trump is nothing new from Scarborough. It’s even more ridiculous in this case because, not only are David Duke’s beliefs antithetical to those of the Republican Party, but he also recently endorsed Hawaiian Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for President and called anti-Semitic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar the “most important member of Congress.”
The President’s tweets were wholly inappropriate, but Scarborough’s shortsighted comments on Republicans across America are wrong and disgusting.
The full transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
Morning Joe
07/15/2019
6:29 A.M. Eastern
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Why aren't they speaking out? Why hasn't Mitt Romney spoken out yet? Why hasn't Thom Tillis, who’s in a swing state, where's Joni Ernst? Where are all of these people--
CLAIRE MCCASKILL: I think Mitch McConnell has a shock collar on him.
SCARBOROUGH: Where are all of these people that should be--this is not hard, Mike Barnicle. This is what all of America used to criticize David Duke for saying five years ago and this is why David Duke has publicly time and again celebrated the Presidency of Donald Trump. Is that where the Republican Party wants to be? Because that's where they are right now.
MIKE BARNICLE: They are cowering in the corner. They are a party now that is not only mute as you pointed out, Joe, they now have no conscience. They care more about their jobs than they do about the country. They have a President of the United States, you can talk about diversion, he did this to deflect this, to get our attention over there instead of here. No. What he did yesterday, that's who he is. That's who he is. First question that ought to be asked Donald Trump in any public forum is when you hear the word America, Mr. President, tell us what you think it means. What do you see in that word? And it won't be what this country really is all about.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: And it's also this is far from the first time he's done this. And that must be said again. This is not just a political calculus to distract from bad headlines, though that may have played a role into the timing of this tweet. He has shown time and time again, look at the history, the Central Park five, his campaign announcement was listing Mexican immigrants, many of them, as rapists. We know what he said in Charlottesville, the way he described African nations as “bleep-hole” countries, the fact that his entire political career was based on the racist lie of birtherism—
BARNICLE: And on division—
LEMIRE: -- And division, and birtherism, questioning if the first African-American President of the United States was born in this country. And what he got yesterday was complete silence from Republicans. He has paid no penalty from his own party for any of these remarks. And yesterday, I was there with the White House when that tweet came out about the Democratic congresswomen. Minutes later, the President stepped out of the White House, got in his motorcade and went golfing at his golf club in Virginia where he spent the entire day. He returned to the White House that evening. I'm told he gauged some reaction. There was no criticism from Republicans, it was radio silence, there was nothing in the conservative media attacking him, he was emboldened, and he doubled down with another tweet. This is who he is. The Republican Party is going to -- as long as they remain silent, this is who he's going to continue to be.
SCARBOROUGH: And Mika, in the poll that we showed that showed Donald Trump losing to Bernie Sanders by seven points, Joe Biden by nine points, Elizabeth Warren by five points, nine out of ten Republicans approve of Donald Trump's performance as President. Let me say that again. Nine out of ten Republicans approve of Donald Trump's performance as President of the United States, a performance that has included one racist screed after another. So this is not just about Donald Trump. This is not just about elected leaders in Washington, D.C. This is about a political party now that has embraced the racial ideology of David Duke. Good luck with that in the years to come. Because you are going to be left on the dust bin of political history, Republicans.
