After President Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks against Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., during an event in the congressman’s home state, MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough warned that the president’s criticism could backfire.
“We got to get rid of this loser,” Trump told a crowd in Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday. “This guy is bad. He’s disloyal to the Republican Party. He’s disloyal to the people of Kentucky. And, most importantly, he is disloyal to the United States of America.”
The president said the six-term representative has “got to be voted out of office as soon as possible” and endorsed Massie’s opponent in the GOP primary, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein.
On Thursday’s “Morning Joe,” Scarborough reacted to the president’s comments and reflected on his first campaign for Congress, noting the lack of support he received from the GOP. He said Republican Party leaders were “against me from the very beginning” and threw their support behind his primary opponent.
Scarbrough said ultimately emerging victorious without the establishment’s help only bolstered his confidence: “What do you do when your own team is trying to get you, and you win by, in my case, 62%? You’re like, ‘I can do whatever I want to do.’”
“This will make Massie stronger if Massie wins here,” Scarborough added.
As the “Morning Joe” co-host pointed out, Massie was not being “punished” by the president because he betrayed his conservative values, but rather because he’s “the guy that keeps pushing on the Epstein files.”
Scarborough said he doubted that Massie’s push for transparency would put him at risk with Republican voters in the primary.
“Anybody thinking that the base is going to punish Thomas Massie because he’s pushing the Epstein files too hard … I don’t know, that’s a fascinating political theory,” he said.
You can watch Scarborough’s full commentary in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”