Joe Scarborough, a former GOP representative from Florida, announced his departure from the Republican Party during his guest appearance on "Late Show" on Tuesday. His statements came after he and his "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski came under fire for being critical of Donald Trump on their morning talk show. In fact, the POTUS slammed the two hosts for allegedly making him a regular subject of their personal attacks.
I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017
...to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017
The U.S.
president, however, drew backlash for his comments about Brzezinski which were deemed sexist by his detractors and supporters. Even members of the Republican Party expressed their concern about his behavior on social media.
Trump versus Media
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in a press briefing, explained that the POTUS was merely defending himself from his critics who have been hitting him below the belt. The Principal Deputy said that the leader is not someone who will let his detractors criticize him and his administration. "When the president gets hit, he's going to hit harder," she told the media.
Scarborough and Brzezinski, on the other hand, refused to back down and continued to target the president and even questioned his mental state and competency in leading the American people.
"We have our doubts, but we are both certain that the man is not mentally equipped to continue watching our show," the two said.
Before his controversial tirade against the "Morning Joe" hosts could even die down, Trump turned to target other news outlets. He specifically slammed CNN for their "fake news" and "dishonesty." His online rage went on with an edited video of a WWE fight where the U.S.
president was seen punching a man with CNN's logo on his face.
The video clip has caused alarm among the members of the press who believed that the leader was promoting violence against journalists through the anti-media post. Several GOP members called out the POTUS to watch his language on social media.
Scarborough leaves GOP after online feud
A few weeks after their exchange of harsh words with the U.S. president, the male "Morning Joe" host announced that he is leaving the Republican Party after seeing how the GOP members failed to reprimand Trump over his racist remarks when he promoted Muslim ban during the 2016 presidential election.
“Time and time again, they look the other way. And they’re doing the same now,” Scarborough told Stephen Colbert. “I am a Republican, but I’m not going to be a Republican anymore; I’ve got to become an independent."
The MNSBC host joined the Republican Party in 1994. He was a congressman for the first district of Florida from 1995 to 2001.
