Morning Joe Crew ‘Connects the Dots’ and Claims the Republican Party Is ‘Close to Being a Cult to Vladimir Putin’
MSNBC’s Morning Joe was on a tear on Tuesday morning following the words and actions of Senate Republicans who chose not to support the bipartisan foreign aid bill that passed 70-29. Co-host Joe Scarborough, along with John Heilemann, both argued that the Republican Party is not just caving to former President Donald Trump; they’re now becoming a “cult of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin.”
Scarborough called Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) a “political coward” earlier in the show for his fealty to Trump on providing aid to foreign countries. But he and Heilemann went further to “connect the dots” and show how the GOP is blatantly turning their support towards the world’s dictators.
Scarborough started with Trump’s controversial statement on allowing a country like Russia to invade NATO countries if they didn’t honor their financial commitments:
But this is a moment where you have Republicans parroting Vladimir Putin. You have the Republican nominee, likely nominee, saying, “Yes, Putin invade Europe. Russia, invade Europe.” You have all of these things happening at the same time. And it’s not an accident.
And I’ve got to say, even I am shocked that that that Republicans on the Hill haven’t stood up to Donald Trump, saying that Russia should invade NATO allies, but they haven’t. Which means, again, this is a moment in time everybody has to stop and recognize. That not only is American democracy on the line, but freedom across the globe, on the line.
Donald Trump is siding with [Chinese President Xi Jinping]. Donald Trump is siding with Putin. Donald Trump is siding with [North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un]. These are the people that he wants to make alliances with. And he wants to turn his back on a free Europe.
Heilemann seemed stunned by how easily so many on the right, from commentators like Tucker Carlson to elected officials in the Senate, have “capitulated to Trump” despite his predilection for hardline Communist dictators:
You have Tucker Carlson, is over in Moscow, sitting out in front of Vladimir Putin doing a softball interview with Vladimir Putin. And then you have [Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)]. These are just like the points, the points that you kind of connect to connect these dots. Here’s Ron Johnson, who sounds, sounded in that clip like the senior senator from Yekaterinburg. He’s like basically says, well, no, you know, hey, we got to tell the American people the truth here. There’s no stopping Vladimir Putin. He says it, not even with a tone of regret. He’s sort of in awe of Putin. “Why, you can’t stop him. There’s no way Ukraine could win this war.”
This is like, you know, forget Neville Chamberlain and appeasement. This is like a guy sitting in the grandstands not exactly cheering Hitler on, but sort of saying, “Wow, you know, that that guy Hitler, man, he’s he’s got a lot of strength. He’s got a lot of power. He can’t stop him.” Just we just got to give it up here. …
[T]he cultishness of the Republican Party towards Trump is on vivid display here. And what that amounts to in the context of world affairs is now increasingly something that comes close to being a cult to Vladimir Putin. I mean, that’s where we are drifting now.
Watch the video above via MSNBC.
