Morning Joe Blasts Evangelicals’ ‘Idolatry’ And Trump’s ‘Cult Of Personality’

MSNBC’s Morning Joe discussed President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights Friday morning, but host Joe Scarborough and historian Jon Meacham both seemed taken aback by comments on the topic from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo was asked in an interview if Trump could be a figure chosen by God to protect the Jews, like the biblical Queen Esther. Pompeo said he believed it was possible, pointing to his faith. This is not the first time someone has claimed Trump is God’s anointed, but Scarborough was exasperated.

“That’s  – Jon Meacham, I just don’t know where to begin,” Scarborough said to the presidential historian and frequent guest.

“A man who has probably committed felonies, paying off porn stars to help win elections and who, as we noted today, cannot tell the truth – he just cannot tell the truth, being compared by Mike Pompeo to Queen Esther. You were born, Donald Trump, for times such as these! It’s shocking and yet, my God, I’m sure a lot of people watching that actually believed it.”

Meacham discussed the importance of the separation of church and the state and the potential dangers to religious belief of investing divine authority in fallible humans. This is a topic he has frequently mentioned in relation to Trump.

Scarborough once again took Evangelical Christians to task for supporting the president.

“It’s idolatry,” Scarborough said. “And again, you have so many Evangelicals who, by the way, were very critical of Barack Obama when he said things like ‘we are the ones that we’ve been waiting for’ and other people referred to him as black Jesus. They were so offended by that.”

“And yet here we are have people elevating this man to Old Testament, biblical stature, a man again – you’re right, all who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, I have done it so much, I would never cast stones. But here is a man who has said repeatedly that he has never felt the need to ask God for forgiveness. He’s never felt the need to ask Jesus to forgive him of his sins. He said it in 2015, he reiterated it months later. It is a strange, strange thing, watching the idolatry of this man in particular, by Evangelical Christians, if they actually read the New Testament, should know better.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.