Joe Scarborough and Donald Trump continued their war of words Wednesday as the MSNBC host demanded the president stop watching his morning show and told him to ‘turn off the TV’ and stop tweeting.
The on-air comments came after Trump, as part of his Tuesday morning Twitter rant, reupped an unproven claim that somehow Scarborough was involved in the death of one of his interns in his Florida office in 2001.
The back-and-forth between the two former friends happened in real time with the president airing his grievances on Twitter and Scarborough using Morning Joe to direct comments toward Trump.
Scarborough and his wife and co-host Mika Brzezinski launch an attack against the president during their Tuesday morning show after Trump walked out of a Rose Garden briefing Monday afternoon when he told a reporter to ask China about their coronavirus numbers – which many have claimed was a racist response since the reporter is Asian American.
The reporter, an American who is of Chinese descent, was asking Trump if it was a competition between the U.S. and other countries, she then pushed him on why he told her specifically to ‘Ask China!’ about their numbers on testing.
‘He sure looked weak,’ Scarborough said. ‘What a racist response to a CBS reporter.’
‘He ran away,’ Brzezinski said of the president.
‘Like he’d say, like a little baby,’ Scarborough continued. ‘Unbelievable.’
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough told Donald Trump to stop watching his morning show and to ‘Turn off the TV, Donald’ and stop tweeting for the betterment of the country
Scarborough’s on-air comments came minutes after Trump reupped on Twitter his claims that the former Republican U.S. congressman from Florida was involved in the death of one of his congressional interns in 2001
Lori Klausutis (pictured) interned for Scarborough’s congressional office in Florida. She died in 2001 at the office after falling and hitting her head. Doctors ruled her death an accident as a result of an undiagnosed heart arrhythmia
Even though President Trump often asserts that he doesn’t watch Morning Joe, or MSNBC in general, about 20 minutes after the comments from the duo, he launched a Twitter assault against Scarborough, calling him a murderer.
‘When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida,’ Trump questioned. ‘Did he get away with murder? Some people think so. Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly? Isn’t it obvious? What’s happening now? A total nut job!’
He is referencing a 2001 incident where a staffer for Scarborough – who was a Republican U.S. representative for Florida at the time – died after falling and hitting her head while working in his Florida office.
Lori Klausutis’ official cause of death at 28-years-old was determined to be the result of an undiagnosed heart arrhythmia.
The president also simply tweeted, ‘ColdCaseJoe!’ on Tuesday in response to a reposted article about Scarborough apologizing to Vice President Mike Pence and Texas Senator Ted Cruz after the MSNBC host tweeted a deceptive video Jimmy Kimmel posted of Pence and separately engaged in a Twitter fight with Cruz over the edited video.
‘I know, Donald, you watch the show a lot. I know you’re watching right now, poor thing,’ Scarborough said. ‘I keep asking you to stop watching our show. It would really help you – help your blood pressure out. Please, I’ve been asking for years. It’s best for American that you don’t watch our show. Please, stop.’
Trump also tweeted ‘ColdCaseJoe!’ in response to an article detailing the MSNBC host’s apology after he tweeted an altered video of Vice President Mike Pence and got into a Twitter spat with Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz
Trump’s tweets came after Scarborough and his co-host and wife Mika Brzezinski (left) bashed the president earlier in the show Tuesday morning as a ‘little baby’ for walking out of a Rose Garden coronavirus briefing Monday after arguing with a reporter
Trump told CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang to ‘Ask China!’ about their numbers when she questioned if coronavirus testing numbers was a competition between the U.S. and other nations. She then pushed the president to explain why he specifically directed that response to her – an American reporter of Chinese descent
‘Leave us alone,’ Brzezinski interjected.
‘Why don’t you stop tweeting?’ Scarborough said on his show, moments after the president tweeted about him Tuesday morning. ‘Why don’t you turn off the television, and why don’t you start working, okay? You do your job, we’ll do ours. America will be much better off for that.’
‘Just go, turn off the TV, Donald,’ he instructed.
Trump reupped the unsubstantiated claim that Scarborough was involved in his intern’s death earlier this month after the president said he turned on Morning Joe just to see if the program was as ‘nuts’ as he thought.
‘Concast’ should open up a long overdue Florida Cold Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough,’ the president urged in a tweet the morning of May 4. ‘I know him and Crazy Mika well, used them beautifully in the last Election, dumped them nicely, and will state on the record that he is ‘nuts’. Besides, bad ratings! #OPENJOECOLDCASE’
Scarborough responded later that morning on Morning Joe.
‘This president, I ask that you get checked out. I ask that you take a rest, I ask that you take care of yourself. Maybe let Mike Pence run things for the next week,’ Scarborough said at the time, referencing the third section of the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president to take over if the president is ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.’
‘You actually tweeted something extraordinary cruel,’ Scarborough asserted. ‘And I know you meant to be extraordinarily cruel to me, by attacking me. By bringing up a conspiracy theory that has lived in the gutters of the internet for some time now’
‘You don’t understand the pain you cause – you cause the families who’ve already lost a loved one. Not me. Not my children. Not anybody that knows me or – they know the truth. But, you once again drag a family through this, and make them relive it again,’ he continued. ‘As if losing a loved one the first time isn’t enough.’