MSNBC host Joe Scarborough lashed out at any of his network’s viewers who may support the nationwide campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, telling them Thursday that they’re “too stupid” to realize they are helping Donald Trump win.
On top of that, the Morning Joe co-anchor also urged the channel’s protest-backing audience to “change to another channel” if they can’t figure out the demonstrations are hurting President Joe Biden’s re-election chances.
Over the past two weeks, pro-Palestinian demonstrations urging colleges to divest from Israel have rocked campuses across the country, resulting in nearly 2,000 people being arrested. Tensions have only increased in recent days, with police clearing out encampments and occupied buildings while pro-Israel counterprotestors have violently attacked anti-war demonstrators.
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Meanwhile, critics—including the White House—have accused the protesters of being antisemitic and threatening Jewish students, resulting in the House of Representatives passing a bipartisan “antisemitism awareness” bill this week aimed at universities. Both Democratic and GOP lawmakers who voted against the bill claim that it infringes on free speech.
During Thursday's broadcast of Morning Joe, Scarborough—who regularly consults Biden, a loyal viewer—worried that recent footage of student protesters clashing with police officers would conjure up imagery of the Vietnam War protests, blaming those demonstrations for Richard Nixon’s election in 1968.
“I’m not saying the Vietnam War was a just war. It was not a just war. But I can tell you, the riots on college campuses, the riots at the Chicago convention in ’68, all those things moved my family from being Democrats their entire life to being Republicans,” the former GOP congressman said.
“I remember. I was young. And I remember my parents asking, ‘What in the world is going on in this country?’ Of course, you know, they were raised in the Great Depression, in rural Georgia, kind of hard for them to hear rich kids on campus of Harvard or taking over the campuses at Columbia,” Scarborough continued. “By the way, if you’re offended by this, please, I’m trying to help you. I don’t want Donald Trump to get elected!”
From there, the MSNBC star then told the liberals watching his show that if they supported these demonstrations against the bloody war in Gaza, they were doing a great disservice to Biden and needed to stop watching Morning Joe.
“I’m trying to help you. If you’re too stupid to figure that out, you can change to another channel,” he grumbled. “Because we’re sorting through this as a country. And this is not helping. This is not helping the people of Gaza. And this is not helping those of us who want to fight fascism in America.”
Turning to Morning Joe regular Richard Haass, a foreign policy expert and someone else Biden regularly listens to, Scarborough said that the “seeds were planted in 1968” for Ronald Reagan’s election years later. There is a reason that Reagan won with a lot of young voters in 1980,” he stated. “There is a reason the Reagan Revolution took place.”
Scarborough further lectured anti-war protesters on the correct way to demonstrate, name-checking Martin Luther King Jr. in the process. “There are ways to do this that help the cause… without aiding the worst elements in American politics,” he added.
Piggybacking off Scarborough’s anti-protest sentiment, Morning Joe regular Donnie Deutsch reiterated that the demonstrations were killing Biden’s re-election prospects. “These protesters are going to hand the election to Donald Trump,” he huffed. “We are going to have fascism as a result of these protesters. Joe Biden, you need to step up right now!”
Shortly after Morning Joe went off the air on Thursday, the president delivered an address from the White House where he said college demonstrators should be free to express their views, but it shouldn’t result in violence or trespassing. “Violent protest is not protected,” Biden declared. “Peaceful protest is. It’s against the law when violence occurs. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It’s against the law.”
Saying the protests have not changed his unwavering support of Israel in its war against Hamas, Biden did push back on Republicans’ calls for him to use the National Guard to quell the demonstrations.
