MSNBC’s Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough -- who has a history of praising Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and who once said he would not rule out serving as his vice president -- penned an opinion article in The Washington Post demanding Republican leaders “examin[e] quickly their options for removing” Trump as the nominee.
During much of Trump’s presidential campaign, Scarborough has praised and defended Trump, given him softball interviews, and bragged that Morning Joe’s supposedly accurate coverage of Trump “humiliated” others in the media. Scarborough has even said he'd be open to serving as Trump’s running mate, saying, “I would do just about anything to try to get the White House back.”
But in an August 9 piece, Scarborough criticized Trump’s widely condemned remark that “maybe there is” something that “Second Amendment people” can do if Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton “gets to pick her judges” as president. Scarborough wrote that the “Secret Service should interview Donald Trump and ask him to explain his threatening comments,” and that Paul Ryan and Republican leaders “should denounce in the strongest terms” Trump’s remark. He also urged the GOP “to start examining quickly their options for removing the Republican nominee,” calling Trump a “political train wreck.” From the piece:
The Muslim ban, the David Duke denial, the “Mexican” judge flap, the draft dodger denigrating John McCain’s military service, the son of privilege attacking an immigrant Gold Star mother and the constant revisionism and lying about past political positions taken are but a few of the lowlights that have punctuated Donald Trump’s chaotic chase for the presidency.
[...]
The presidential candidate that House Speaker Paul Ryan endorsed tried to explain away his suggestion of an assassination by telling Sean Hannity his comments were meant to unite supporters before the election. It’s too bad for Trump and his supporters that his comments related to what Hillary Clinton would do after being elected and nominating Supreme Court justices that gun owners would not like.
We are in uncharted waters but that does not mean that the way forward is not clear. It is.
The Secret Service should interview Donald Trump and ask him to explain his threatening comments.
Paul Ryan and every Republican leader should denounce in the strongest terms their GOP nominee suggesting conservatives could find the Supreme Court more favorable to their desires if his political rival was assassinated.
Paul Ryan and every Republican leader should revoke their endorsement of Donald Trump. At this point, what else could Trump do that would be worse than implying the positive impact of a political assassination?
The Republican Party needs to start examining quickly their options for removing the Republican nominee.
A bloody line has been crossed that cannot be ignored. At long last, Donald Trump has left the Republican Party few options but to act decisively and get this political train wreck off the tracks before something terrible happens.