Muy Macho Joe Scarborough has once again proven himself the toughest hombre this side of Nantucket. Among several past displays of his sizzling manliness, Scarborough once boasted he'd force a tourist to eat his camera if he found him snapping pics inside the Capitol somewhere Scarborough didn't approve.
Macho Joe was back at it on today's Morning Joe. Discussing the situation at Trump's hush money trial yesterday in which Judge Merchan gave a tongue-lashing to defense witness Robert Costello for an exasperated "Jeez" and then an exasperated sigh over Merchan's rulings.
Scarborough claimed that in his young-lawyer days in Florida, "if a witness acted toward a judge the way this defense witness acted yesterday, judge would have cleared the courtroom, called in the bailiff, sent him to jail, say, we're going to take a recess and let the witness think about this in jail in 24 hours. And take him out in cuffs, and bring him back the next day."
Willie Geist performed his usual sidekick remarks: "Judge Merchan making it clear that whatever you are doing to perform for President Trump right now, whatever you're trying to do to signal that you are continuing to be sort of a tough guy, a thug on behalf and in defense of President Trump, it's not going to work in this courtroom."
Scarborough replied "Exactly, And he's playing, like the clowns behind him that all come in with their cyborg red ties, to an audience of one." Macho Joe found no irony that he was wearing a blue blazer, a white shirt, and a red tie -- full cyborg! -- or that he does his own daily show for an audience of one, namely Joe Biden.
As for Costello, Scarborough declared that: "If he were to do it again, he needs to be sent to jail. He needs to be sent to jail immediately."
Scarborough then trained his macho sights on Trump. Joe said that Judge Merchan has shown "restraint" in the face of Trump "going out and, and attacking him personally, suggesting that he's corrupt, suggesting that the court system is rigged, making it extraordinarily personal toward him and members of his family."
Scarborough then declared:
"I don't care who the defendants were. If I were the judge, they're going to jail. I would bring them in shackles day in and day out. I don't care if it were a Democrat, a Republican, whether it was a steel worker, at teacher, or the President of the United States."
No word from Joe whether he'd order Trump to spend "a night in the box," a la Cool Hand Luke.
For good measure, Scarborough claimed the notion that Trump is the victim of a double standard in which he's being prosecuted for actions others wouldn't be is " just bullshit. Rank bullshit."
Yup. Real men go barnyard scatological on national TV. Right, Macho Joe?
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
5/21/24
6:02 am EDTJOE SCARBOROUGH: I will tell you if, and I'll just say it again, in, in most courtrooms in America, certainly in courtrooms that I grew up around as a young attorney in northwest Florida, if a witness acted toward a judge the way this defense witness acted yesterday, judge would have cleared the courtroom, called in the bailiff, sent him to jail, say, we're going to take a recess and let the witness think about this in jail in 24 hours. And take him out in cuffs, and bring him back the next day.
But obviously, the judge is balancing a lot of different things. We'll get to that in a minute.
. . .
WILLIE GEIST: So, an extraordinary moment, and Judge Merchan making it clear that whatever you are doing to perform for President Trump right now, whatever you're trying to do to signal that you are continuing to be sort of a tough guy, a thug on behalf and in defense of President Trump, it's not going to work in this courtroom.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, exactly. And he's playing, like the clowns behind him that all come in with their cyborg red ties, to an audience of one.
And that makes his disrespectfulness toward the judge, but far more importantly, toward the court, toward the court system itself, all the more maddening. And why if he, if he, if he were to do it again, he needs to be sent to jail. He needs to be sent to jail immediately.
Just, let's take a step back. And Judge Merchan has had to show restraint while, every day, you have a defendant going out and, and attacking him personally, suggesting that he's corrupt, suggesting that the court system is rigged, making it extraordinarily personal toward him and members of his family.
And I suppose -- I wouldn't do it. I don't care who the defendant were [sic.] If I'm tthe judge, they're going to jail. And I would bring them in shackles day in and day out. I don't care if it were a Democrat, a Republican, whether it was a steel worker, a teacher, or the President of the United States. You have to respect the judge, because the judge represents the, the, the judicial system.
And I understand the balancing act that this judge is in the middle of, Willie, but you take everything in its totality. Maybe it's harder to send a former president to jail for contempt when any other American, any other American, any other American would be sent to jail.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: That is correct.
SCARBOROUGH: This double standard stuff, that somehow Donald Trump is on the wrong end of the double standard, that's just, as Aristotle used to say when he was debating Socrates, that's just bullshit. Rank bullshit.
