Republican lawmakers are pretty upset at Chuck Schumer, this time because he loosened the dress code for the Senate floor. But on Tuesday, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” crew couldn’t help but scoff at that outrage, saying that a looser dress code isn’t “debasing the institution” — Republicans themselves started doing that awhile ago.
Discussing the matter during the day’s episode, the hosts played a montage of responses from Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Susan Collins, who joked she’d wear a bikini to work, and argued that “to do away with the dress code, to me, debases the institution.” Meanwhile, Sen. Tommy Tuberville called the move “a joke.”
“Speaking of jokes,” host Mika Brzezinski sniped, “the last person talking there.” Joe Scarborough echoed her sentiments on Tuberville, simply saying “What a joke.”
Really though, Scarborough and his colleagues took issue with any Republican voicing outrage over the dress code, considering their actions over the last few years.
“I mean, for Republicans to talk about debasing the institution after what their own members did before January the 6th, on January the 6th, and after January the 6th,” Scarborough said exasperatedly. “Let me tell you something, historians will be talking about Republicans debasing the institutions, they won’t be talking about hoodies.”
Host Willie Geist agreed, saying that, particularly for Republicans who aligned themselves with Donald Trump, the right to be upset about, well, anything, flew out the window long ago.
“In so many ways. Republicans who’ve gone along for the ride with Donald Trump, especially around the 2020 election and January 6, surrendered their right to be outraged about more minor things or really anything, frankly, that Democrats do,” Geist said.
That said, Geist was also particularly annoyed by Tuberville’s take, considering the senator has actively been blocking military promotions, and saying he doesn’t know what employees of the Pentagon do all day.
“I guess shame is dead in our politics, but my God, is that shameless,” Geist said.
You can watch the full conversation from “Morning Joe” in the video above.
