The Trump 'campaign' (if you could call it that) had a tough week, and it appears to have emboldened the otherwise deferential cowards at the MoJo table, especially Joe and Mika, who were quite feisty this morning.
Joe and Mika weren't exactly secret lovers with Donald Trump. They were going steady for quite some time. Remember this?
Here's the dilemma: It is publicly known that the GOP nominee is absolutely a racist (some of us have known this for several decades) and it is detrimental and dangerous for the Republican Party to get behind such a caustic candidate. Scarborough is all of a sudden disgusted with folks like Paul Ryan who still endorse him, even after denouncing his comments on Judge Gonzalo Curiél. He'd rather see him take the more admirable road like Senators Mark Kirk and Jeff Flake who have rescinded their endorsements. Funny thing is, Scarborough wants us all to forget about his love affair with Trump and pretend it never happened.
Nicole Wallace insists there's only a binary solution, no 'curtain number three' option here. You either support or denounce. Ironically, Scarborough begs to differ:
JOE SCAR: The third choice is this, hey Donald, guess what, I'm not going to support you until you get your act together! You're acting like a bush league loser!...you're acting like a racist you're acting like a bigot this is called Art Of The Deal, and I'm taking my deal off the table, Donald! Until you get back to the table and get on the other side of the table and prove to me that you're not a bigot and prove to me that you're not going to take my party down in the ditch you don't have my endorsement! ...and you can't use Hillary Clinton as a gun against my head, I'm taking the gun away from my head, I'm putting it on the table and now it is in your hands ...don't use Hillary Clinton as an excuse to say racist things about people who were born in Indiana....If they embrace the racist to beat Hillary, You lose the presidency, then you lose the Senate AND you lose the House!
Mika found her own cajones and admonished Paul Ryan for caving in to Trump's intimidation. Such a different tone than when the guests are present.
Joe continued his vociferous shouting.
SCARBOROUGH: Listen to me guys! You embrace a guy making racist comments!
BRZENZSKI: Why do you have to say this?
SCARBOROUGH: Because they're stupid!
...You have to stand up to Donald Trump. (like Scarborough did, right?) Prove to us that you deserve our support...
They're running scared and Donald smells it, so he can say whatever the Hell he wants to say... Donald Trump needs them more than they need Donald Trump.
Such bluster and machismo from Squint and the Meat Puppet! Unfortunately for them, there's too much evidence that they both are more culpable than anyone in government or the media for this dreadful candidate quandary. These two have to be the biggest hypocrites on earth, given their record with Donald Trump.
There is a yuuuge electronic trail showing the multiple times they kissed Trump's ass in order to have access to his ratings. Seldom is anyone allowed to just phone-in an interview, but Trump was the exception. Boy howdy, did the Morning Joe team seem downright giddy each time the Donald lazily phoned-in. And there were plenty of them! Media Matters has eight separate videos of the simpering sycophants of Morning Joe.
There could possibly be more. Mika and Joe cannot pretend that they are long-time veterans of the Holding Trump Accountable party. They poured gasoline the Trumpster Fire to warm their show's ratings for months.
There's another angle to this story that doesn't get nearly enough coverage:
We know for sure that Trump has long been part of the New York City nouveau society and that Mika and Joe have turned to Donald for nice big checks for charity fundraisers. The Donald Trump Foundation is thanked by Mika's "Children Helping Children" fundraiser here.
When Gawker released hacked voicemails of Mika and Joe thanking Donald for his largesse, Joe reacted with great offense that it was all for charity.
Oh my God. I just read the transcripts! Trump must have contributed to a children's charity. Scandalous!!! https://t.co/BxcZCdSkQb
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 4, 2016
The problem for Joe and Mika is that Trump's loud, rampant racism has no place in New York City fashion show fundraisers. A bigot on the red carpet is not going to bring more donors to Mika's charity winetasting and silent auction.
Joe Scarborough is not just screaming because he finally realizes that Donald Trump's racism is going to destroy the Republican Party. Joe Scarborough has given himself permission to abandon Trump because that same racism means he and Mika can no longer call Trump for charity donations and Barney's discounts.
Now that Trump has breached the rules of New York City Society, Joe Scarborough wakes up and is Shocked! Shocked I tell you! That a racist has snuck in and taken his party's nomination for President?
It's not the ratings. It's not the Republican Party. It's Joe and Mika's Manhattan friendships - and the possible loss thereof -- that is bringing about this "evolution" in Trump coverage at Morning Joe.
