Responding to a New York Times report that former president Donald Trump is telling friends and associates that getting arrested would be a “fun experience,” “Morning Joe” hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough agreed that he’s just “talking big,” despite being “horrified.”
“Trump, for his part, is reportedly downplaying his predicament behind closed doors,” panelist Willie Geist said in his intro to the report. “According to the New York Times, the former president has told friends and associates he welcomes the idea of being paraded around by the authorities, as long as he’s surrounded by the media.”
To this, Brzezinski audibly sighed over Geist’s continued set-up.
“He also reportedly mused openly about whether to smile for the cameras during that possible perp walk and described the potential situation as a fun experience,” Geist said, which earned a “Really?” from Brzezinski before she and Scarborough weighed in.
“That might be fun in front of the cameras for him,” she said, “but I think it’s different when you get in there and you’re having – I could be wrong, I wouldn’t know. But having your fingerprint taken and picture taken.”
“You know what we call that, Mika?” Joe posed, interjecting. “That’s called ‘whistling past the graveyard.’”
The phrase earned a round of knowing smiles from the on-camera panelists.
“He’s not looking forward to any of it,” Scarborough continued, positing how the former president really feels of his legal woes. “He’s horrified. He’s just talking big, the walls are closing in, as has been said before. This time, my god, look at all of it.”
Trump’s reported reaction to the possibility of arrest closed the “Morning Joe” segment, which opened with Scarborough and Geist detailing the hypocrisy Republican party figures like Sen. Lindsey Graham, former vice president Mike Pence and representative Elise Stefanik have shown while defending the former president through the Manhattan DA’s investigation.
“They actually think their own voters are stupid, and that’s what’s so insulting,” Scarborough said.
Watch the full “Morning Joe” segment in the video above.
