Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough issued a blunt warning to Democratic leaders, urging them to “speak truth” to the party’s “most extreme base” or risk allowing President Donald Trump to use the views of democratic socialists to define Democrats ahead of the November midterm elections.
Joe Scarborough criticizes the DSA
Scarborough delivered the warning after airing a Fox News Sunday exchange between host Shannon Bream and DSA co-chair Megan Romer.
During the interview, Bream outlined several positions in the DSA platform including eliminating the Senate, replacing the Supreme Court, defunding the Pentagon, granting amnesty to illegal immigrants in the U.S., abolishing prisons and allowing the public seizure of large corporations.
Romer confirmed she supported the proposals as part of the organization’s long-term goals.
After playing the clip, Scarborough addressed Democrats directly, saying, “Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, let those with ears hear. Maya Angelou said, ‘When somebody shows you who they are, believe them the first time.’ People know themselves much better than you do. And, well, what’s true of people is also true of political parties. And as you just saw, the national co-chair of the DSA went on television and showed us exactly who she is and what her party believes.”
‘Pushing your party to be better’
Scarborough argued Romer’s responses undermine efforts to portray the organization as primarily focused on economic and social reforms.
“All questions answered with complete conviction. And all those responses completely disqualifying for a party that likes to tell people they’re really just about health care and tax reform,” he said.
Scarborough added that he has “no problem with debate” over major political issues, but “there’s a difference between pushing your party to be better and asking it to abandon every single thing that makes it worth belonging to.”
Joe Scarborough praises Democrats
The MSNBC host then praised Democrats for having “pushed back against the lawlessness of January 6” and said the party “rose up and fought back against Americans and immigrants being gunned down in American streets.”
“But being the party that defends democracy also demands condemning a party that calls to abolish the U.S. Senate, the House, the presidency and the Supreme Court [and] wants to release murderers and rapists from jail,” he said.
“Come on! Democrats have always believed you can love your country while pushing it toward being that more perfect union. And you can do that without wanting to burn it to the ground,” Scarborough continued.
He warned Democrats that failing to distance themselves from the DSA’s most sweeping proposals could provide Trump with a powerful political weapon. The host advised, “If Democrats want to make America more affordable, more fair and more free — and I think they do — they better speak truth to its most extreme base, or they’re going to let a small faction of radicals drive more people toward Donald Trump.”
Scarborough ended his rant by directly calling out Democratic congressional leaders, saying, “Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, every other Democrat in Washington, D.C., make no mistake of it: If you don’t define your party today, Donald Trump will be sure to define it in November!”
