Joe Scarborough Shreds Billionaire Trump Backer for ‘Shocked’ Tariff Protest: ‘You Knew!’

Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough laid into billionaire Trump backer Bill Ackman for having “seen the light” too late after the Wall Street banker’s panicked pleas to the president for a tariffs stay.

With markets reeling from last week’s sweeping tariffs and a further slip expected on Monday, Ackman spent Sunday pleading with Trump for a 90-day pause to give time for trade negotiations and avoid a global collapse of confidence in the U.S.

Ackman also took aim at Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s Wall Street ties and accused him of seeking to profit from the economic chaos his administration’s tariffs regime helped ignite.

On Monday’s Morning Joe, however, Scarborough had little time for Ackman’s flip and blasted him, as well as other big names among the MAGA faithful, for having been in denial about Trump’s intentions:

What’s going to happen this week with Republicans? Are they really Republicans?

By the way — Republicans in Congress have the power, have the power. To not stop it, to moderate it, to pick certain countries where they think it’s gone too far. I’m like — you know, there are some Republicans speaking out. [Senator] Chuck Grassley [R-IA] has spoken out about it. [MAGA commentator] Ben Shapiro says it’s unconstitutional.

Bill Ackman—uh? He saw the light. How can Bill Ackman ever have seen this coming? How? How? How can—oh wait a second—this is exactly what Donald Trump promised for years. In fact, he’s been talking about this since 1987. All right?

So he believes in this. So people on Wall Street going, “Oh my God, I’m so shocked. How could this ever happen? I—I supported him, but I really didn’t think he was…” What do you mean? He’s been saying tariffs are “beautiful things” while the rest of the world has been saying, “No, they’re not. They’re dangerous.” This is what made the Great Depression extraordinarily bad and extended it.

Right? So you knew. You knew, Bill Ackman.

Continuing to mock Ackman, Scarborough jibed at “woke” culture as being a reason to vote for Trump:

I’m sorry somebody at a college said something that offended you. I’m sorry. Like: “Oh, we’ve got to fight against the woke warrior.” Well, I agree with that too. But you don’t have to do it by blowing up the world economy.

Rounding on congressional Republicans, the host concluded:

So we’ll see what happens. But here’s the thing: always remember, if you hear anybody today, tomorrow, next week saying, “Oh, this had to be it” — no, that’s not true. That’s doublespeak.

And if you hear Republicans saying, “We can’t do anything about it,” that’s just a lie. That’s just a lie. They have the constitutional power to decide: “Are 49% tariffs too much on Vietnam? Should it be 20%? Let’s round off the edges. Let’s make it a little less tough on American businesses. EU — are those too tough? Let’s talk to the president. Maybe we can come together and come up with something that’s not quite as extreme.”

You’re not going to see that this week. You may not even see it next week. I just want you to know, though, when they’re telling you, “This has to be done,” that’s not true. And when they’re telling you, these Republicans on the Hill: “We can’t do anything about it” – well, that’s just a lie. It’s doublespeak.

Watch above via MSNBC.