Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” host Joe Scarborough criticized presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and warned him if he didn’t change some of his ways, he wasn’t going support Trump, even if the alternative is presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
When posed with the question of what a third alternative might be to either withdrawing an endorsement or sticking with Trump, Scarborough said pushing Trump reconsider his prior statements, including those about U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over the lawsuit against Trump University, was something with which he needed to come to the negotiating table.
“The third choice is this: Hey, Donald, guess what, I’m not going to support you until you get your act together,” Scarborough said. “You’re acting like bush league loser. You’re acting like a racist. You’re acting like a bigot. This is called art of the deal. I’m taking my deal off the table, Donald, until you come back to the table and get on the other side of the table and prove to me you’re not a bigot and you prove to me you’re not going to take my party down in the ditch, you don’t have my endorsement and you can’t use Hillary Clinton as a gun against my head.
“I’m taking the gun away from my head, I’m putting it on the table and now it is in your hands on whether you are going to prove to the Republican Party and me personally that you’re not a bigot,” he continued. “So, don’t use Hillary Clinton as a threat against me. Don’t use Hillary Clinton as an excuse, as your blank check to say racist things about people born in Indiana. No, Donald, you don’t get to play it that way. I’m not scared of you and I’m not scared of the base because they are just as pissed off as me. Walk away. It’s called art of the deal. It’s what Donald Trump has been preaching all of his life. I can say the word they are. They’re – they’re being weak. They need to negotiate.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor