Even by his unhinged standards, Joe Scarborough’s tirade against Nikki Haley on today’s Morning Joe was remarkable in its outrage. Scarborough was infuriated by Haley’s explanation yesterday of why she will be voting for Trump, after being increasingly critical of him during her primary run.
And for the second time this week, Scarborough resorted to vulgarity. On Tuesday, Scarborough called “bullshit“ on claims Trump is the victim of a double standard in being prosecuted for actions others wouldn’t be. Today, he condemned letting “shit” roll in permitting Haley to get away with her flip-flop.
Years ago, Morning Joe installed a seven-second delay when Scarborough dropped an f-bomb. Will that be replaced by a warning signal to Joe if the end of a show approaches without him unleashing an obscenity?
So enraged was Scarborough, that when John Heilemann tried to lighten the mood by observing, apropos Joe’s rant, that “the Rudy Coffee is flowing where you are,” an angry Scarborough sniped back, “If you’re not shocked by that, John. I know, it’s really funny, ha, ha, ha. So, yeah, yeah, I’m not laughing about that.” This is the second time in recent shows that Scarborough has rudely reacted to Heilemann. Bad blood there?
Later, thrice-married adulterer Charlie Sykes sneered “this is peak Nikki Haley. She turns out to be very, very cheap date for Donald Trump…it’s so revealing about, first of all, you know, front and center, about her character.”
Try calling a liberal lady a “very very cheap date,” Charlie, and prepare to be flooded with accusations of sexism, misogyny, and slut-shaming.
Here’s the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
5/23/24
6:06 am EDTNIKKI HALEY: I put my priority on a president who’s gonna have the back of our allies, and holds our enemies to account. Who would secure the border, no more excuses .A president that would support capitalism and freedom. A president who understands we need less debt, not more debt.
Trump has not been perfect on these policies.I have made that clear, many,many times. But Biden has been a catastrophe. So, I will be voting for Trump. Having said that, I stand by what I said in my suspension speech. Trump would be smart to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me, and continue to support me, and not assume that they’re just going to be with him. And I genuinely hope he does that.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: You know, that is one of the most remarkaby unmoored from facts description on why you’re voting for Donald Trump I’ve ever heard in my life. I mean, it is mind-boggling that somebody who actually claims to know anything about policy would say what she just said.
Like I said, I’m not shocked she’s been cynical. She’s been cynical her entire political career. Doesn’t shock me she went back to Trump. But you’re going to have to do a lot better than that, Nikki.
. . .
I mean, think about this. Think about just how wrong — we were supposed to play back-to-back clips. We were supposed to play those clips, and then what she said in the campaign. I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, this is how people spread disinformation and lies and get away with it. Where you just let shit keep going. Sometimes, you need to stop things and just explain how big her lies were there.
She lied about the economy. She lied about debt. Just look. Just look at the numbers. She lied through her teeth about debt. And she lied about Donald Trump holding our enemies accountable, when he actually praises our enemies and sends love letters to them, and talks about how brilliant they are because they can hold down millions and millions of their countrymen and women.
I’ll let you go from there. Just seriously, I’m not shocked at the endorsement. I am shocked that she would sink so low so fast and just lie about the facts as badly as she did.
JOHN HEILEMANN: Morning, Joe. How are ya?
SCARBOROUGH: I’m doing well. How are you doing?
HEILEMANN: It seems like the Rudy coffee, the Rudy coffee is flowing where you are.
SCARBOROUGH: No, no! I mean, if you’re not shocked by that, John. I know, it’s really funny, ha, ha, ha. But if you’re not shocked by her lying through her teeth that way. Like, she could have picked three, four other issues. She could have talked about Afghanistan, talked about inflation. She could have talked about two or three — the cost of gasoline. But she picks these three things where she actually picks Donald Trump on policy, his weakest points, and then lied to the American people about it. So, yeah, yeah, I’m not laughing about that.
HEILEMANN: I’m not laughing either. I was just saying you’re fired up. That was all, that was my only comment about the Rudy coffee.
. . .
CHARLIE SYKES: Nikki Haley — in many ways, this is peak Nikki Haley. She turns out to be a very, very, cheap date for Donald Trump. But this is a choice that she made. It is a very different choice than Liz Cheney made, Adam Kinzinger made, Chris Christie made. It’s a different choice than Mike Pence made.
And I don’t know that it actually makes that much of a difference, but it’s so revealing about, first of all, you know, front and center, about her character. I once wrote a piece called The Unbearable Lightness of Nikki. So there’s nothing surprising about her getting back on the Trump train. She’s gone on and off, she’s gone on and off.
But, you know, to Joe’s point, how do you make a full-throated defense of Ukraine, and then turn around and endorse someone who has made it clear that he will pull out of NATO, that he will abandon Ukraine, who actually invited Vladimir Putin to invade Europe? It makes no sense, except in the context of Nikki Haley’s unbridled ambition.