“It’s so nice to be here,” remarked Joe Scarborough.
On Friday night, the slick MSNBC co-host returned to HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher after a prolonged absence. The last time Scarborough was on the show he was a conservative; now, he identifies as an independent, having spoken out against Trump during his chaotic presidency.
“Honestly, tell me about this. You’re an independent now. So, what does that say? To me, it says that you think the Republican Party is unsavable,” Maher asked.
“Unsavable—no doubt about it,” replied Scarborough. “It can’t be saved.”
“I used to get attacked by liberals because I was a conservative; now, I’m getting attacked by people who voted for a fascist because I’m a conservative,” he explained. “You know, my friends and my family members, they all voted for [Trump], and it’s been hard for me to process it. But the only way I’ve been able to come to terms with it is they’re not fascists, but they’ve voted for an ingrate man who is a fascist. I don’t understand why.”
He continued, “I’ve seen focus groups over the past couple of days of Trump voters who still would support him. Who say things like, ‘I like Donald Trump because of where he stands’—I can’t even say it with a straight face—‘on the issues.’ Now you tell me, what the fuck does that mean? What issues? What issues does this guy share with conservatives?”
Later on during their chat, Maher brought up the events of Jan. 6, when a horde of pro-Trump crazies invaded the U.S. Capitol with the aim of stopping the certification of Joe Biden as president, and potentially harming members of Congress. A number of Republicans played roles in helping incite the melee, including Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, who repeatedly spewed election-fraud lies; Hawley, for his part, even gassed up the Jan. 6 mob with a fist-pump.
“Cruz and Hawley are seditionists. They should be in jail,” argued Scarborough. “You can look at the federal statute for inciting sedition, and it seems to me it’s what they did.”
It’s worth pointing out, however, that whatever his position is now, Scarborough played a considerable role in helping Donald Trump get elected president. Scarborough and his Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski fawned over Trump in 2015 and 2016, and were even caught on a hot mic kissing his ass during a town hall.
