Joe Scarborough Shames Republican Senators: ‘Speak Out for Our Troops Today’

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough had a simple message for Republicans following reports that Russia had paid bounties for the deaths of American troops in Afghanistan. The Morning Joe host also strongly criticized President Donald Trump for denying he knew about the bounties.

“Think about that if you’re a parent that have a son or a daughter in Afghanistan,” Scarborough said. “And the commander-in-chief has known for months that Vladimir Putin and the Russians have put a bounty on their head, to have them killed by Islamic militants and the president of the United States does absolutely nothing about it?”

“And it’s considered so serious that the National Security Council convenes in March to consider sanctions or at least a diplomatic scolding. And trying to figure out what actions to take. And three months later, no actions have yet to be taken. Think about being the father or the mother of a child in Afghanistan. Or the husband or the wife, the spouse, who’s in Afghanistan. And this is considered so serious that the CIA station chief warned about it in Afghanistan.”

Scarborough went on to express incredulity that Trump couldn’t have known about the bounties when U.S. authorities told the British government about it.

“You’re being told that they notified the British government, but they didn’t even tell the President of the United States,” Scarborough said in a mock whisper.

“I just ask, how stupid do they think you are? And how low does the President think he can take you, and his supporters, in supporting a president who was told in a presidential daily briefing months ago, that the man that he called a friend of his in May, was putting bounties on the heads of U.S. troops back in 2019. It is — it is just mind blowing. Mind blowing. And here’s the thing.”

“It’s all going to come out. The truth is all going to come out. There are going to be people testifying before Congress, under oath, they’ve got the presidential daily briefs. They have the Intel. It’s all gonna come out. So, Republican senators pick sides. And there are only two sides to pick here by the way. There are only two sides to pick here. This isn’t about being a Democrat or Republican, a Trump supporter or opponent.”

“You can pick the side of U.S. troops or you can pick the side of Vladimir Putin. There’s really, there’s no gray zone here. You can’t stick your head under the covers and pretend that Donald Trump is going to go away. Because yes, he is. He’s going to get voted out. You think he is. So you think you can — no, you can’t hold on for six months. Speak out for our troops today.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.