On Friday’s Morning Joe, co-host Joe Scarborough just could not resist his urge to trash President Trump and his supporters once again. In his first segment of the show, Scarborough turned a discussion about the latest Supreme Court ruling on DACA into an attack on Trump voters, namely evangelical voters with whom Trump is popular. Using religious language by referring to their souls, Scarborough attacked them directly and viciously.
This is at the very heart, along with abortion, on why evangelicals have sold their political souls to Donald Trump. We will sell our political souls, has been the bargain, and this guy will fight for us. He will fight for what we believe in. He will fight for traditional values. He will appoint Supreme Court justices who will be conservative with a big C. And as we come to the end of this week, again this -- this ruling that Gorsuch authored undercuts every argument Donald Trump has ever made to evangelical voters, you can trust me, I'll put the right person on the Supreme Court to tamp down on what he would call alternative lifestyles and to tamp down on abortion rights. That's just not happened. Donald Trump has failed.
And just in case that wasn’t low enough of an attacks on Trump’s supporters, Scarborough gets himself going again a few minutes later. This time, he had his sights set on his favorite target: Trump’s tweets. But before he got into his commentary, he let Brzezinski start things off first.
Among President Trump's Twitter reactions was, quote, “These horrible and politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or conservatives. We need more justices or we will lose our Second Amendment and everything else. Vote Trump.” He followed minutes later, “Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn't like me?”
Now regardless of your feelings on the rulings or even the tweets themselves, you probably did not think anything of it. After four years of President Trump’s tweets, most Americans don’t pay any attention to them. But Scarborough couldn’t help himself, turning to his favorite tweet reaction:
Willie, shotgun blasts to the face of conservatives and Republicans and then warning about the second amendment, of course, we just talked about how even with Trump's two picks the Supreme Court is not even hearing Second Amendment cases that the NRA wants them to hear. But the violent rhetoric is the sort of thing you would expect from a totalitarian leader, from an autocrat trying to, it seems to me, if it's a stretch let me know, but trying to incite violence against judges.
That’s a stretch. Scarborough infamously did it once before with President Trump in 2019, and he also turned the “inciting violence” claims against Dana Loesch that same year.
As much as Scarborough wanted to claim that evangelical Trump supporters sold their souls to him, maybe the cable host did that for his liberal bosses at MSNBC.
The June 19 transcripts are below. Click “expand” to read more.
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
6-18-20
6:13 AM ET
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Because as we talk about lgbtq rights, again achieving the greatest advance in the history of their movement because of Donald Trump's first selection to the Supreme Court. This is not like a side issue for conservatives and evangelicals. This is not like how Gorsuch interprets the Interstate Commerce Act. This is at the very heart, along with abortion, on why evangelicals have sold their political souls to Donald Trump. We will sell our political souls, has been the bargain, and this guy will fight for us. He will fight for what we believe in. He will fight for traditional values. He will appoint Supreme Court justices who will be conservative with a big C. And as we come to the end of this week, again this -- this ruling that Gorsuch authored undercuts every argument Donald Trump has ever made to evangelical voters, you can trust me, I'll put the right person on the Supreme Court to tamp down on what he would call alternative lifestyles and to tamp down on abortion rights. That's just not happened. Donald Trump has failed.
(...)
6:25 AM ET
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Among President Trump's Twitter reactions was, quote, these horrible and politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives. We need more justices or we will lose our Second Amendment and everything else. Vote trump. He followed minutes later, do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn't like me?
SCARBOROUGH: Willie, shotgun blasts to the face of conservatives and Republicans and then warning about the second amendment, of course, we just talked about how even with Trump's two picks the Supreme Court is not even hearing Second Amendment cases that the NRA wants them to hear. But the violent rhetoric is the sort of thing you would expect from a totalitarian leader, from an autocrat trying to, it seems to me, if it's a stretch let me know, but trying to incite violence against judges.
