“Morning Joe” joined the chorus of support for Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings on Monday, calling on Republicans to defend their colleague after President Trump attacked him and his district of Baltimore in a series of tweets.
In a 10-minute segment captioned, “What Donald Trump could learn from Elijah Cummings,” co-host Joe Scarborough labeled the president’s tweet spree a “clumsy attempt to stir racial divisions and appeal to his most bigoted supporters” and urged Republicans to stand up to him.
Where others, like CNN’s Victor Blackwell or the Baltimore Sun editorial board, defended Baltimore as a whole in the wake of Trump’s attack, Scarborough highlighted Cummings’ contributions to his district, citing “empowering minority-owned businesses, working with faith-based leaders, inner-city educators, and helping seniors in need.”
In between describing instances of Cummings’ good works in his district, Scarborough called out individual Republicans by name, starting with Trump.
“Donald, Donald, Donald, you should know that unlike every other member of Congress, Elijah goes home to his district every single night,” the former GOP congressman said of the man he calls a friend. “He lives with the community that he serves. He’s there for the good and he’s there for the bad, and there’s more good than you would ever care to learn or know about.”
In one of his tweets Saturday, Trump Baltimore a “rat and rodent infested mess,” then said of Cummings, “If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place.”
“Hey, Mick,” Scarborough said, referring to acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who defended Trump’s tweets on Fox News Sunday, “did you go home every night to your district in South Carolina? I know you didn’t.”
Scarborough then moved on to GOP Rep. Mark Meadows, noting that Cummings calls Meadows one of his “best friend” and once stuck up for him when a Democratic representative described something he said as racist.
“So, Mark, what do you say about Elijah Cummings? What do you say about Elijah now that he has been attacked as a racist? Mark, we have a personal relationship, you and I, and I enjoy talking to you, getting updates from you. Are you going to do the right thing? Are you going to defend Elijah like Elijah defended you against a shocking charge? I hope you will because guess what? You’ll be remembered for what you do right now,” Scarborough said.
Finally, he turned to the GOP at large, “damned by [their] own silence”: “I’m getting really tired of having to tell you this and please, please, please, don’t write your books about ‘how I won the war’ after Donald Trump leaves town. Speak up now because if you don’t, Donald Trump is going to bring you down.”
He concluded by predicting that “what he did this past weekend” will result in Trump’s failure to be re-elected.
Representatives for Mulvaney and Meadows did not immediately return requests for comment.