Joe Scarborough has suggested that President Obama's poor poll numbers made him "desperate," driving him to agree to a deal with Iran on its nuclear program that Scarborough criticized as "bad" and even "horrible."
Scarborough described recently speaking with someone who said that no president with approval ratings under 40% should be allowed to do a deal. Reminds me of doctors' warnings not to sign legal documents while under the effects of some medications. Said Scarborough of unpopular presidents: "they get desperate, they really do." View the video after the jump.
In illustration of his point, Scarborough recounted being told a couple of weeks ago by a former member of President George W. Bush's administration that every time things were going bad for W, the foreign policy people would scramble to get something going.
Consider the implications if Scarborough is right: that President Obama might have compromised the national security interests of the United States in order to prop up his popularity ratings.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: A political win for the president. You know what somebody told me over the weekend that no president, like under 40% approval rating, should be allowed to do any, like, deal.
WILLIE GEIST: Anything?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Stop.
SCARBOROUGH: They get desperate. They really do. I had somebody in the Bush administration say a couple weeks ago. Every time things started going bad for Bush, all the foreign policy people would start scrambling: "let's get something!"
BRZEZINSKI: Like he just whipped this together yesterday.
SCARBOROUGH: No, but he did agree to it over the weekend. It's just disappointing.
BRZEZINSKI: It's been months in the making. Why is it disappointing?! Go to break, go.
SCARBOROUGH: Disappointing. It's a horrible deal. We got nothing out of it.
BRZEZINSKI: What is wrong with you?
SCARBOROUGH: So now we've got the French and the United Nations a taking a tougher line than the United States of America.
RICHARD HAASS: It's a good deal.
SCARBOROUGH: It's a good deal if you like bad deals. OK, go ahead, Willie. That's my best line yet.
