Joe Scarborough is one of the few Republicans who has been willing to speak out against the many outrages of the Donald Trump administration. For instance, he loudly demanded that now-former national security adviser Michael Flynn apologize for peddling conspiracy theories on Twitter, and was positively aghast at White House adviser Stephen Miller’s overtly fascist attacks on the courts. But on Tuesday night, we learned just how little Scarborough thinks of Trump. He’s not willing to even call him “president.”
Scarborough dropped by CBS’ “The Late Show” to talk politics with host Stephen Colbert. Watch here.
Colbert is a longtime fan of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”–or as he calls it, “Coffee Joe Morning and the Brew Crew.” However, Scarborough suggested that the title ought to be “Morning Mika.” After all, his co-host, Mika Brzezinski, is in charge. In order to get on the show, you have to stay on Brzezinski’s good side–as Trump’s information minister, Kellyanne Conway, found out the hard way when Brzezinski banned her from coming back due to her blatant lying.
The conversation then turned to Trump himself. As we all know, Trump frequently watches “Morning Joe”–even going as far as to interrupt important meetings to take calls. Scarborough recalled that they can tell when Trump is watching, since he follows along on Twitter. He’s such a regular viewer that he and Brzezinski frequently say into the camera, “Donald, we know you’re not watching the show, but how ya doin’?”
Colbert was surprised that Scarborough didn’t call Trump “Mr. President.” As much as Colbert despises Trump, even he calls Trump by that title. After a long pause, Scarborough revealed it’s hard to call him “Mr. President” because he’s just been “Donald” for so long. But he admitted that it may be awhile–if ever–before he calls Trump “Mr. President.”
“And I’ll be really honest with you–the way he’s acted over the last month makes it even harder to call him ‘Mr. President.'”
That line brought cheers from the audience. Scarborough then told us why. Although he is a conservative Republican, he considers himself an American first. He believes Americans should “pray for our president,” not hope he fails. However, at the same time, he argued it was incumbent upon all Americans to “do what we can” to hold a president to account when he isn’t doing the right thing.
Scarborough thinks that this is one of those times. He issued a challenge to all Americans, especially his fellow Republicans–“especially Republicans in the Senate”–to speak up against a president who attacks judicial review, free speech, and the media. After all, they will have to answer for their response to Trump–or lack thereof.
“The Republican Party needs to know–there is going to be a time after Donald Trump. And they are going to be judged for the next 50 years on how they respond to the challenges today.”
Judging by the response that Republican lawmakers have seen at town halls, the verdict may already be coming in.
Later, Scarborough mused that Trump couldn’t keep going on his current course. Watch here.
Scarborough told Colbert that a number of people from both sides of the aisle believe that “this pace just can’t be sustained.” When Colbert asked him if Trump will last a full term, Scarborough replied, “That’s up to Donald Trump.” Colbert pressed, wondering what Scarborough thought personally. Scarborough said that if Trump keeps up on his current pace, “I just don’t think it’s sustainable.” He did, however, praise Trump for appointing H. R. McMaster as his national security adviser, and hopes he “corrects” his course.
In a measure of how far gone things have become in a short period of time, Scarborough recalled that when Trump rage-tweeted about the judiciary, Senator Ben Sasse–a charter member of the Never Trump club–tweeted the First Amendment. Scarborough reflexively retweeted it, but then realized that this was now considered “a subversive act.” It’s also very telling that when a Republican speaks out against his own party’s president, it’s a subversive act.
(featured image courtesy Rubenstein, available under a Creative Commons BY-NC license)
