MSNBC's “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough has said he's “strapped a swath of his base by speaking out about illegal immigration and transgender issues, two major concerns for voters who helped elect Donald Trump.” He is afraid of angering the Democratic Party.''
The former Republican lawmaker turned liberal cable news anchor gave a scathing post-mortem on Thursday's show about why Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats lost not only the White House but also the Senate.
“They're afraid of offending. They're always afraid of offending,” Scarborough said. “They're always afraid of violating border security. They're always afraid of offending on a lot of other issues, and they've lost working-class America.”
“The question is, how long will it take until they understand that this is not just about tax cuts, this is not just about economics, this is about cultural markers that are so important to the lives of these people? That's what it means.
He criticized Democrats for not pushing back on a pro-Trump ad in which Harris supported taxpayer-funded surgeries for transgender people.
Other ads claimed Harris would allow biological males to participate in women's sports.
“They didn't react to it because they were afraid to react because it might anger some people in some of their bases,” Scarborough said. .
From Oct. 7 to Oct. 20, the Trump campaign and pro-Trump groups spent $95 million on ads, 41% of which focused on transgender issues. According to PBS.
One particularly effective television ad that aired in a battleground state said: “Kamala is for them. Trump is for you.”
“I mean, you don't have to be a Republican, but I was a Republican, to understand that there's ad after ad at NFL football games saying, 'I'm a conservative. But you don't have to be a conservative. Taxpayers are going to fund transgender surgeries for prisoners, and that's not going to go over well with men in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.” said Scarborough.
Scarborough also criticized Democratic leaders for not seeking amendments to the border security bill after the original bill died in the Republican-controlled Senate.
“There was some reluctance to go out there and talk about the things that are really important to Americans this year: illegal immigration, mass border crossings,” Scarborough said.
“That was a concern for Hispanic voters. It was a concern for Black voters. It concerns all voters.”
