MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough ended a long-winded rant about former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Thursday with a bizarre moment that appeared to be a joke.
Scarborough ranted about McConnell endorsing Trump after the senator blamed him for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, and for his remarks about his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. He accused Republicans of forgiving Trump’s attacks on them and loved ones.
“This is so bizarre. I want to underline again, Mitch McConnell repeatedly said this guy basically tried to destroy American democracy, has watched his wife attacked with racist screeds repeatedly and he said I endorse Donald Trump,” Scarborough said.
Scarborough then attempted to introduce Politico deputy managing editor Sam Stein.
“We have two kind of balancings here like we always do. We have somebody here from a remote location that’s gonna be defending not only Mitch McConnell—hold on, here cut that, cut that, we’ll do that. So we try to be fair—we’re cutting that out, right? Okay. You know we always try to be fair here at ‘Morning Joe’ so let’s bring in Sam Stein, he believes what Mitch McConnell did was great.”
The panel then burst into laughter during Scarborough’s prolonged introduction. (RELATED: ‘It’s Hard to Even Read’: Watch Joe Scarborough Barely Get Through A Sentence Without Dying Of Laughter)
Stein explained Republican politics is based on their fear of Trump and pandering to their base. He pointed out that Republicans who have opposed Trump “paid a political price,” and so McConnell expressed his support for the former president.
Panelist Willie Geist pondered how Republicans like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham can put aside their “personal pride” and support Trump despite all of his attacks. Attorney George Conway said if McConnell truly cared about the Republican Party, he would staunchly oppose Trump.