The Morning Joe crew tore into congressional GOP leader Kevin McCarthy after he joined a growing list of Republicans who have been hesitant to call out Donald Trump for dining with white supremacist Nick Fuentes. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Fuentes was the guest of Kanye West, who was already facing backlash for his ever-increasing collection of antisemitic remarks. (Recent reports now claim the entire evening was a “setup” that was orchestrated to teach Trump a lesson about abandoning his base.)
When asked by reporters to “condemn” Trump for having the dinner with Fuentes, McCarthy waffled by condemning the white supremacist, but not Trump. McCarthy continued to assert that Trump didn’t know who Fuentes is, but he had no answer when reporters pointed out that Trump knew all about Kanye and his increased antisemitism.
After the embarrassing display on Tuesday, the Morning Joe crew lit into McCarthy the following day. Via Mediaite:
“Must be awful to go through life the way Kevin McCarthy is, having to stop and think ‘Is the thing I’m about to say going to make Donald Trump mad?’” [Willie] Geist scoffed. “To have no core and have to say something as easy as ‘This guy’s terrible. Donald Trump shouldn’t have done it.’ He has to say ‘This guy’s terrible, but Donald Trump said he didn’t know him.’ Just say he shouldn’t have had the dinner. He can’t do it, and never has.”
Co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski agreed with Geist’s assessment, and the two remained baffled that McCarthy continues to remain loyal to Trump even as he cost the party a “red wave” in the midterm elections.
(Via Mediaite)