Joe Scarborough Compares Trump’s Bible Photo Op to ‘Michael Dukakis in the Tank’

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough suggested on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s photo op at a Washington, D.C. church could go down in history as a pivotal moment in the campaign similar to the infamous appearance of Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis in a tank.

Scarborough and co-host Willie Geist were discussing recent swing state polling on Morning Joe when he made the comparison.

“Willie, let’s just start there and look at Wisconsin,” Scarborough said. “This is a state that was considered by the Trump campaign and the industrial Midwest to be the most favorable for them. I think it’s very illuminating that all of the polls after June 1, when Donald Trump cleared out the park and [Attorney General William] Barr cleared out the park of peaceful protesters on June 1 to hold his Bible upside down — I think it’s very instructive that his poll numbers dropped then.”

“Afterwards, Jonathan Lemire reported, and we’ll talk to Jonathan about this in a second, that the White House staff went back and high-fived each other because they actually thought violently removing peaceful protesters so the President could hold a Bible upside down was a good thing.”

“They called it iconic,” Geist said.

“Yes, icon like Michael Dukakis in the tank was iconic, and like Gary Bauer flipping pancakes and falling backwards off the stage. Yes, those were iconic moments, too,” Scarborough joked.

Dukakis was famously mocked for appearing in a tank during the 1988 presidential campaign. His opponent, George H.W. Bush, used the footage effectively in a campaign ad and went on to win the election.

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.