Joe Scarborough blasted GOP silence on Trump’s “beyond the pale” attack on Mitch McConnell, in which he said the Senate Minority Leader had a “death wish” and attacked his wife with racist rhetoric, noting Tuesday that it is “beyond crazy” that more Republicans haven’t condemned the former President’s comments.
“Why elected Republicans of the United States senate aren’t speaking out and defending Mitch McConnell, why they’re not speaking out and defending Mitch McConnell’s family, it’s beyond crazy,” Scarborough said on Tuesday’s edition of “Morning Joe.”
The “Morning Joe” panel responded to Trump’s tirade on Truth Social Friday that slammed McConnell for backing Democrat-supported legislation and suggesting that he seek advice from his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, referring to her as his “China loving wife” and “Coco Chow.” Though Liz Cheney condemned Trump’s comments as “absolutely despicable and racist,” Scarborough noted that other Republicans have yet to stand up against the attack.
“That’s one Republican that’s spoken out against Donald Trump attacking the Senate Minority Leader with violent rhetoric and making racist statements about his wife,” Scarborough said. “[There’s] not a lot of other elected Republicans that have done that.”
“I guess we can’t be shocked anymore,” co-host Willie Geist added, “But it is shocking, it still is shocking that the leader of the United States Senate in the Republican party had a ‘death wish’ placed on him by the former president of the United States, his wife was attacked with racist slurs, and no one says anything.”
Geist also noted that the Senate Minority Leader McConnell “has a whole lot of friends in the United States Senate” who he’s worked with for decades, “long before they ever met Donald Trump.”
“They won’t even stand up in this moment of all moments and defend him against that,” he continued. “It’s still stunning, even though it shouldn’t be.”
Co-host Mika Brzezinski added that although she’s not a “huge Mitch McConnell supporter,” she’ll do the job of many Republicans who are not speaking up against the atrocities. “No, you should not threaten Mitch McConnell, you should not make racist attacks on his wife, you should not put him in danger, you should not put his wife in danger,” Brzezinski said. “These people — [you] may not agree with them — serve our country, have served our country, served in the administration, this is wrong. It’s not hard.”
“You could make the case, guys, that the fear of Donald Trump is the strongest force in American politics,” Geist concluded, noting that while Republicans likely disagree with the remarks privately, they “back off” publicly to avoid upsetting Trump.
