“Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough blasted the Trump administration for saying ex-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates “betrayed the Department of Justice” in Monday’s statement announcing that President Trump fired her.
“To suggest that someone acting as a contentious objector to a law that has divided this country would be termed as, ‘betrayed,’ the justice department. That is deeply, deeply offensive, first of all, secondly, it is frightening that the Trump administration actually views dissent that way,” Scarborough said on Tuesday’s edition of “Morning Joe.”
Earlier in the show, Scarborough called the use of the term betrayed “what an autocrat would use.”
Scarborough is not opposed to the firing overall, just the way it was described by the White House.
“Take that to Venezuela,” Scarborough said. “We don’t really want to use that sort of language here. It’s time for you guys to grow up.”
WH: Yates ‘betrayed' the DOJ … @JoeNBC: It is frightening that the Trump admin. actually views dissent that way https://t.co/f8BeysSZkR
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) January 31, 2017
“The acting Attorney General, Sally Yates has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States,” the White House said in a statement.
The announcement that Yates had been “relieved of her duties,” follows Yates’ letter to Justice Department lawyers on Monday saying that she will not defend the announcement in court.
“My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts,” Yates wrote in her letter on Monday.
“At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful,” she wrote.