Joe Scarborough goes after Trump's 'mental meltdown'
- MSNBC host Joe Scarborough joined reporters and politicians in questioning President Donald Trump's mental fitness to lead.
- Scarborough cited numerous incidents over the past few weeks and the statements of those close to the president to back up his claims.
- He held Republicans responsible for enabling Trump's behavior.
In a searing op-ed published in The Washington Post on Thursday, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough accused President Donald Trump of being unfit for the presidential office, characterizing Trump's recent behavior as a "mental meltdown."
In the column, Scarborough cited several individuals close the president who have questioned either Trump's intelligence or his emotional stability, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, and a host of White House officials.
"Many who move through his orbit believe Trump is not well," Scarborough wrote."That is a verdict that was reached long ago by many of the president's own staff. More than a few politicians and reporters across Washington have shared similar fears."
In recent weeks, Trump has come under fire for retweeting videos from a far-right anti-Muslim group in Britain and has targeted Scarborough himself in a tweet in which Trump pointed to a conspiracy theory alleging that the host killed one of his interns in Florida in 2001 when he was a congressman.
More recently, Trump slurred his speech at the conclusion of his speech on Jerusalem on Wednesday, leading people on Twitter and elsewhere to theorize that he might be wearing dentures.
Scarborough framed Trump's alleged instability in grave terms, writing that Trump's lack of fitness has the potential to endanger US national security.
"In August 2016, Mika Brzezinski and I reported on 'Morning Joe' that then-candidate Trump horrified foreign policy briefers by how flippantly he mentioned the option of using nuclear weapons on countries such as North Korea and Iran," Scarborough wrote. "During a 2016 interview with Chris Matthews, Trump even refused to rule out the use of such weapons in Europe and the Middle East. Mika grimly warned viewers that a Trump presidency could lead to nuclear war."
But Scarborough saved his final critiques for the Republican Party, which he believes has enabled Trump and failed to contain him.
"If Republicans don't find their bearings soon, it may be America's safety and security that are next to go," Scarborough concluded.