Someone dies after years of alcohol abuse. His younger brother having witnessed this, is well-known not to drink. If that younger brother does something you find odd, would it be funny to joke about the possibility that, denials notwithstanding, the younger brother does indeed drink? Of course not. It would be exploiting a family tragedy for a tasteless joke.
Fred Trump Jr. died young in 1981 of alcohol addiction. Yet Joe Scarborough, a man consumed with hatred of Donald Trump, was willing to stoop that low for a laugh on today's Morning Joe.
MSNBC showed video of President Trump keeping alive the possibility that he will be declared the winner of the election. He says that if Congress doesn't amend the COVID relief bill as per his request, the next administration will have to deliver relief, and "maybe that administration will be me."
Because Scarborough found this "full-blown crazy," he joked, a smirk on his face [see screencap]:
"Are we sure? Are we sure, he doesn't drink? I mean, I understand: his brother. Yeah, his brother drank and so he didn't. We've heard that."
A bit later, Scarborough compared President Trump to Otis, the town drunk on the "Andy Griffith Show."
Joe Scarborough: ghoul.
Scarborough said that if Trump had proposed the $2,000 checks before the election, he could have won—particularly if he had also taken Scarborough's advice to speak exclusively about the economy.
This has become a near-daily ritual on Morning Joe, the endless, fact-less speculation about what comes next for Trump. He might be abusing alcohol. He might urge voters to write him in for the U.S. Senate in Georgia. He might try to pardon himself. He might sell national-security secrets to our enemies.
And they call this a "news" network?
Scarborough's ghoulish joke about President Trump drinking was sponsored in part by Amazon, Jeep, and Shark Vacuums. Contact them at the Conservatives Fight Back links to let them know what you think of their sponsorship of Scarborough turning a Trump family tragedy into a cheap joke.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
12/23/20
6:00 am ETPRESIDENT TRUMP: I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple. I am also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation. And to send me a suitable bill, or else the next administration will have to deliver a Covid relief package, and maybe that administration will be me. And we will get it done.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: In the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln, that administration will be me. Are we sure? Are we sure he doesn’t drink? I mean, I understand —
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: That would be a relief.
SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. His brother drank, and so he didn’t. We’ve heard that. But man, he’s got to be on something. Cause it’s just full-blown crazy, Mika.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: Because here’s the thing! Like, if you’re going to say that, and I’m sorry to even try to suggest a logical sequencing to the crazy things he does. But if you’re going to say that, if you’re going to take that position, take it before the election.
And with this election as close as it is, a lot of Democrats are even saying, if he had supported like a $1,200, or $1,500, I mean, he could have won the election!
. . .
And now, you've got the Republicans finally out there, your own team, they're finally out there, they finally stuck their neck out there, they've finally done a deal, and this guy comes tottering in like Otis on — was Otis the drunk on “Andy Griffith show,” the one that kept getting out of the —
MIKA: Loved him. Alex, of course, knows.
SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, I think it was Otis. He’s bumbling around up there like Otis, and Barney Fife, like, has let him out of his cell. And it's just an absolute mess for these poor, poor Republicans [mocks getting choked-up in sympathy]. Who could have ever seen this coming in the last weeks of his presidency? Mitch McConnell?
