Republicans can denounce Donald Trump, but it’s never enough for MSNBC folks until you endorse the president.
On today’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough wasn’t satisfied with former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s remarks on Fox News and lambasted Trump, calling him, among other things, an “authoritarian narcissist” who is “unfit for office.”
That’s not enough. Despite praising Ryan as a “wonderful man” and expressing gratitude for Ryan saying that he wouldn’t vote for Trump, Scarborough was peeved that Ryan said that he doesn’t support Joe Biden either, that his policies are “terrible,” and that he would be casting a write-in vote for a Republican.
Scarborough was confounded that Ryan wouldn’t vote for Biden, wasting his vote on some Republican loser when he could be voting for Biden to block Trump’s re-election.
I’m grateful that Republicans like Paul Ryan are not voting for Donald Trump. Actually proving they actually believe what they’ve been saying their whole life. And that will be enough to defeat Donald Trump. I just remain — I just wonder how you can say he’s an authoritarian, he’s a threat to American democracy, he doesn’t have the character to be president, but I’m not going to vote against the one guy, I’m not going to vote for the one guy that can keep him out of office.
Maybe it means Ryan doesn’t really think he’s a “threat to democracy,” but that he thinks Trump expects everyone in his party to bow to all his wishes and echo all of his boasting that he is the greatest president.
Speaking of who’s the greatest president, Scarborough had to turn the show once again into Morning Advertisement.
if you feel like democracy’s on the line, if you feel there is an authoritarian in waiting, what is so offensive about voting for a man who’s presided over the strongest economy in the world, an economy that the World Bank yesterday said is fueling the world’s economy. The Dow’s at over 40,000. We’ve never been stronger economically relative to the rest of the world since probably, since 1945. Our military’s, relative to the rest of the world, never been stronger than it is today, either.
He’s still narrowcasting into the White House residence. This is the same guy who proclaimed in March: “F-you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden — intellectually, analytically — is the best Biden ever!”
Note: Panelist Donny Deutsch won the award as the biggest virtue-signaling suckup o’ the day. Donny said that women, along with people over 65, are “the two smartest groups in this country,” and that “women are wiser than men.” There’s your Morning Sexism.
Here’s the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
6/13/24
7:02 am EDTMIKA BRZEZINSKI: So, former Republican House Speaker and board member of the Fox Corporation, Paul Ryan, appeared on Fox News earlier this week. And, drum roll please, criticized Donald Trump, and calling him unfit for office.
PAUL RYAN: [Speaking with Neil Cavuto] It’s going to be a very, very close race. I think there’re terrible choices we’re being presented with. And that’s just the fate of — that’s what the primary voters selected, and I regret the fact that that’s where we are.
NEIL CAVUTO: All right. Now I know a lot of these folks who also shared your same concerns about Donald Trump, that sort of said all right, we’re rallying around Donald Trump. You had said, though, that would not be the case with you. You had said he’s a populist and an authoritarian narcissist. That character is too important to me, and it’s a job that requires the kind of character he just doesn’t have. That’s pretty strong.
RYAN: Yeah, that’s the way I feel. I agree with that. I don’t support Biden either. I think his policies are terrible. I hate the fact that I feel like I gotta write in a Republican like I did the last time in 2020.
I voted for him in 2016, hoping that there was going to be a different kind of person in office. And I do think character is a really important issue. If you put yourself above the Constitution, as he has done —
CAVUTO: But what happened? What turned you on him?
RYAN: I don’t think he is fit for office.CAVUTO: Was it the January 6th thing?
RYAN: That’s a part of it. I think it’s a contribution [sic] of factors. But I think it really is his character at the end of the day. And the fact that if you’re willing to put yourself above the Constitution, an oath you swear when you take office, federal office, whether it is President or Member of Congress, you swear an oath to the Constitution, and if you’re willing to suborn it yourself, I think that makes you unfit for office.
. . .
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Willie, I’ve known Paul for a very long time. He actually, he worked for a group of us when I first got to Washington. And I love the guy. I really do. I mean, he’s just a wonderful guy, a wonderful man. And I’m so glad he’s speaking out. I think he’s on the Fox board or the News Corp board or one of the boards. So he’s in a position of authority over there. And that’s not something a lot of people would do. You know, to speak out like that. So I appreciate that.
I will say, the thing I don’t understand is, understanding that this guy’s an authoritarian, understanding the dangers that he presents, and then saying, well, I can’t stand Joe Biden either. And I’m going to vote for — I hate his policies. I’m going to just write in a vote.
Well, if you feel like democracy’s on the line, if you feel there is an authoritarian in waiting, what is so offensive about voting for a man who’s presided over the strongest economy in the world, an economy that the World Bank yesterday said is fueling the world’s economy. The Dow’s at over 40,000. We’ve never been stronger economically relative to the rest of the world since probably, since 1945. Our military’s, relative to the rest of the world, never been stronger than it is today either.
So, I just — I’m grateful that Republicans like Paul Ryan are not voting for Donald Trump. Actually proving they actually believe what they’ve been saying their whole life. And that will be enough to defeat Donald Trump. I just remain — I just wonder how you can say he’s an authoritarian, he’s a threat to American democracy, he doesn’t have the character to be president, but I’m not going to vote against the one guy, I’m not going to vote for the one guy that can keep him out of office.
. . .
SCARBOROUGH: When I was running for Congress — I wish we had the bell here. We could hit the bell.
MIKA: Ring! Where’s our bell?
SCARBOROUGH: I would, I would go into churches and I would talk and say, don’t vote for me because I’m the best Christian. I’m not. Vote for me because you believe in the same things that I believe in.
MIKA: Right.
SCARBOROUGH: And I won at a young age. And then, a couple years later, I would see other Republicans going and quoting Bible scriptures, like 2 Corinthians, and things they didn’t know. And I’d pull them aside, and I’d go, dude, you’re not a preacher. You’re a politician. Just tell what you believe politically, and they’ll do the rest.