“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough tore into President Donald Trump’s verbal shrugs at the grip political violence has had on the U.S. on Wednesday, urging Trump to emphasize unity over division in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder.
“The idea that we have a president that’s trying to divide Americans instead of trying to bring people together at this time is something that’s sad, something that’s unfortunate and something that we all need to pray the president moves past,” the MSNBC host said.
Scarborough lamented Trump’s repeated dismissals of the June murder of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, as well as the violent attack in 2022 of Paul Pelosi. Trump, meanwhile, has blamed Kirk’s death on “radical left political violence.”
The president said on Tuesday he would’ve lowered the nation’s flags after Hortman’s death, as he did after Kirk’s assassination, if he had been asked. It came after Trump decided not to call Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after the killings, calling Walz “a mess” who “doesn’t have a clue.”
Scarborough also expressed his frustration with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s public vow to prosecute “hate speech” over those who celebrated Kirk’s death, citing the official’s comments as evidence that the Trump administration has chosen to embrace division. Bondi has since said she only referred to groups trying to incite violence.
“I pray that, as a country, we can get past this,” he said. “We can mourn the passing of Charlie Kirk. We can come together and do everything we can to make sure something like this never happens again.”
Scarborough even tried to offer Trump, a frequent target of his criticism, some grace, urging him to “let that be his legacy, instead of tearing us apart.”
“We are in desperate need of a president who will bring us together,” he said.
