Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Joe Scarborough and his show’s panel discussed a Daily Beast report on Donald Trump’s ex wife Ivana Trump’s 1989 divorce accusation, in which her then-husband raped her, which she walked back in the early nineties and again denied yesterday as she endorsed him for president.
The “Morning Joe” panel resoundingly agreed the story is not relevant, much to the disappointment of Tim Mak, a Daily Beast reporter.
Co-host Joe Scarborough said, “Ivana Trump has actually said that wasn’t the case. People get really angry in divorces. They say a lot of things in divorces. High profile divorces especially. So this is — this was unfortunate.”
Mike Barnicle added, “The coverage of Trump at this point is expected. It’s like an old Eastwood movie ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.’ What would be looked at with regard to Donald Trump? You can’t get, you know, a more arcane aspect of the Trump background than the divorce settlement 15, 20 years ago.”
Joe Scarborough agreed saying, “It’s ugly… by definition. That’s why they’re getting divorced.”
Mika Brzezinski said to Tim Mak of the Daily Beast, “You guys all let me know when you actually are going to uncover something new.”
Scarborough continued, “A bigger point is this. There is a reason why successful people that have lived let’s say colorful lives as they get older have decided they’re not going to run for our president, for senator, for a governor, for congressman or congresswoman or whatever, because they know that a nasty thing that an ex-wife said in a moment of anger 20, 25 years ago will be dug up, brought out, put into articles and it reads horribly. Even if in the 25 years that have passed since then the two have got and long well, have raised wonderful children together. And when you ask Donald trump why are are your kids so great, Donald? Why do your kids seem to be so well balanced. You know what he says when the cameras are off? Because of Ivana. He says she’s a great woman. She raised great kids and I’m lucky that she was their mother. You don’t see that in articles. I’m not here defending Donald Trump.”
Former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) said, “He deserves to be defended on this…. the way people are going about attacking this guy, whether you line his politics, whether you like what he said from the outset or during this campaign, separate. that but to go after him in this way. If this is the best the press has against him, he’s going to be around a little longer than some predicted. In fact, he’ll find himself in a spotlight for legitimately for a long period of time.”
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