Screenshot/MSNBC
Morning Joe hosts
- The hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" called the president's decision to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a "painfully obvious" distraction from his alleged affair with a porn star.
- "He did not want the Washington Post to have the word 'Stormy Daniels' on the front page today. Guess what? He succeeded," cohost Joe Scarborough said.
- While the announcement regarding North Korea was unexpected - even by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson - there is no evidence that the president timed it to deflect from scandalous headlines.
"Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski called President Donald Trump's surprise Thursday announcement of a potential meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a "painfully obvious" distraction from the scandal surrounding Trump's alleged sexual relationship with a porn star.
"Is this a deflection from Stormy?" Brzezinski asked, referring to porn star Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels.
"Of course it's a deflection," Scarborough responded.
Scarborough argued that Trump's unexpected and largely unplanned recent announcement that he will impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum was an attempt to distract from the news surrounding top aide Hope Hicks' departure from the White House. And he said the decision to agree to diplomatic talks with North Korea was, similarly, an attempt to distract from scandalous headlines.
"He just makes a decision on tariffs because of Hope Hicks, and he makes a decision on North Korea because of Stormy Daniels," Scarborough said. "People can deny that all they want, but if you're doing that you're in the tank for Donald Trump because it is painfully obvious that that's exactly what's going on."
"This is his pattern," Brzezinski agreed.
Holding up a copy of Friday's Washington Post, Scarborough added, "He did not want the Washington Post to have the word 'Stormy Daniels' on the front page today. Guess what? He succeeded."
While the announcement regarding North Korea was unexpected - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US was "a long ways from negotiations" just hours before the announcement - there is no evidence that the president timed it to deflect from scandalous headlines. It was the North Korean leader who invited Trump to meet for negotiations about the country's nuclear program, prompting Thursday night's announcement.