Morning Joe was ripping into Ron DeSantis and the GOP nutjobs over their public reactions to Joe Biden's astounding trip to Kyiv.
"Joe, there were, obviously, we pointed out some of those Republicans. The leadership, Mitch McConnell, pledging his ongoing, continued support for the effort in Ukraine. He just wants it to move a little faster. Going back to the guy who it looks more and more like is going to run for president, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, I guess trying to stake out some point of difference with President Biden, but kind of losing his way while doing so," Willie Geist said.
"It was really -- it was as bad as the debate with Charlie Crist when Charlie asked him if he was going to run for president. He sort of -- it was a Brick Tamlin moment-- eating mayonnaise out of the toaster.
"If that interview had gone any longer and they asked him a follow-up question, he would have said, 'I love Lamp.' We didn't get there, thank God, but it was -- it was difficult to view that."
"Charlie Sykes, this is supposed to be, like, the great hope for the Republican party. The great hope. I guess the governor doesn't understand that he's saying, well, Russia is not as dangerous as they were a year ago. Because of everything Joe Biden has done over the past year! He makes this statement, which makes no sense. He says, 'I love Lamp,' and then he starts talking about how Russia has been degraded as a military. They're not as powerful as they once were, as they were a year ago. He might as well send a bouquet of flowers to Joe Biden," Joe Scarborough said.
"Yeah, this is Ron DeSantis' debut on the national stage, and it didn't go well. His comments, i thought, were as pathetic as they were predictable. Look, he can't allow himself to get outflanked by the America First isolationists, but he went through the playbook. Blamed Biden, downplay the Russia threat, deny the stakes that we've been talking about, the fact that this is a -- this is an existential challenge between the West and Russia. As Mitch McConnell says, we cannot lose," Charlie Sykes said.
"Look, you know, he's not at this point one of, you know, the House useful idiots for Vladimir Putin. But look, the Republican reaction is awfully revealing here. First of all, you know, there are no doves, there are no anti-war pacifists here. There are some who are genuine isolationists, America First isolationists. There are some who are actually actively pro Vladimir Putin. But primarily, they're anti-Zelenskyy and they are anti-Biden.
"So what you're basically saying is, whatever Joe Biden does, they are going to oppose. Which comes a day after what should have been a moment of bipartisan unity. I mean, it was an extraordinary scene. The president of the United States in this war zone. I am old enough to remember when leaders of both parties would have, you know, felt that as a moment of pride. Instead, what do we get? We get some sort of, you know, petty, ankle biting from Congress and from Ron DeSantis."
