“Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski couldn’t make sense of a “menacing” decision by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., to not seek federal charges against those who carry rifles and shotguns in the nation’s capital, arguing it puts public servants – regardless of party – at risk.
The decision by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a former Fox News host who was confirmed to the post last month, centered solely on possessing the guns in public, reserving charges for those whoever used them to carry out violent crimes.
But the hosts on Tuesday questioned how Pirro could justify the decision while the Trump administration claims D.C. suffers from such a crime problem to mandate the federalization of the city’s law enforcement.
“This is madness,” Scarborough said. “Open carry in Washington, D.C., is a threat to Republicans, Democrats, every public servant — it’s menacing, it makes police officers’ job that much harder in the nation’s capital. This is insanity.”
Pirro said in a statement last month that the new guidance stemmed from the Justice Department and the Office of Solicitor General, and it did not apply to handguns.
“Criminal culpability is not determined by the instruments people employ but by the intent and conduct of the actor,” Pirro said, according to NBC News. “Crimes are intentional acts and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent by my office regardless of what instruments of criminality are used.”
But the decision still confounded Scarborough. In a middle of a conversation with Kris Brown, the head of the gun control group Brady United who opposed the policy in a Washington Post op-ed, Scarborough questioned how Trump could permit the policy after he survived an assassination attempt on his life last year.
“What elected official in America has seen personally the danger of guns in political settings more than Donald Trump during the campaign? A couple of times?” Scarborough asked.
Scarborough then compared the policy to the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where 21 people were killed by a shooter with an AR-15.
“That’s the America you want?” he said. “That our law enforcement officers are outgunned? And now, Jeanine Pirro is saying, ‘Come to Washington, D.C.! Open carry your AR-15s and your shotguns!’ And what does that do but make Washington less safe?”
“Preparing for the next Jan. 6 to be more effective?” Brzezinski quipped in response.
Pirro’s office did not respond to an immediate request for comment on the segment.
You can watch the full “Morning Joe” discussion above.
