Joe Scarborough lashed out at what he called the ‘fascist strain’ of the Republican Party on Wednesday’s “Morning Joe,” in response to a poll that showed a significant chunk of GOP voters who see problematic statements or behavior as a “minor problem” or “not a problem” when choosing a candidate.
The Politico/Morning Consult poll asked whether certain allegations – such as domestic violence, sexual misconduct, felonies, antisemitism and homophobic or racist remarks – would be a “major problem,” “minor problem” or “not a problem.”
Among all voters both Democrat and Republican, the largest “not a problem” bloc was 14% of respondents who said “homophobic remarks” would not be a roadblock for casting a vote for a candidate. That was followed by “racist remarks,” which 9% said they wouldn’t consider a dealbreaker.
Only 3% said they could overlook a felony or major crime.
But when broken down along party lines, some discrepancies emerged:
“The Democrats have so many opportunities to show just how out of the mainstream the Republicans are, not only in a lot of their legislation in protecting the richest of all Americans, but in their viewpoints about what America means,” Scarborough said, hoping out loud that these sentiments would bulwark what many believe will be a red wave in the November midterms.
“2022 is really going to be a referendum, not on Joe Biden, it’s gonna be a referendum on the Republican Party and the future of the Republican Party especially when you look at some of the people that are running in the primary and some of the horrific things that they are saying,” Scarborough said.
“Only 38% of Republicans think that people uttering racist remarks are a serious roadblock for the election,” he continued. “Only 38% think that it’s a problem. Less than half of Republicans believe that uttering Anti-Semitic remarks, spewing Anti-Semitic are a serious roadblock to being elected.”
“That tells you that a large chunk of the Republican Party, a large chunk of the Republican base, right now are … well — I’m not exactly sure what word you would — I’ve been using the word ‘fascist’ for some time,” Scarborough added. There is a fascist strain in the Republican Party for at least a third of those members.”