MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough dragged Democrats for being “afraid” to “offend some small subset of their base” by speaking out about illegal immigration and transgender issues — two vital concerns for voters who helped elect Donald Trump.
The former GOP congressman-turned-liberal cable news anchor offered up his scathing post-mortem on why Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democrats lost the White House, as well as the Senate, during Thursday’s show.
“They’re afraid to offend. Always afraid to offend,” Scarborough said. “Always afraid to offend on border security. Always afraid to offend on so many other issues and they have lost working class America.”
“The question is, how long until they understand that this isn’t just about tax cuts, this isn’t just about economics, this is about cultural markers that matter greatly in these people’s lives?”
He slammed Democrats for not pushing back on pro-Trump ads that said Harris would support taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries.
Other ads claimed Harris would allow biological males to compete in women’s sports.
“They didn’t respond to it because they were afraid to respond to it, because it might offend some small subset of their base,” 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 TV add that aired in swing states said, “Kamala is for they/them. Trump is for you.”
“I mean, you don’t have to be a Republican, though I was a Republican — you don’t have to be a conservative, though I was a conservative, to understand that seeing ad after ad in NFL football games, saying that taxpayers were going to be funding transgender surgeries for inmates, it’s not something that is going to play well in Wisconsin, in Michigan, in Pennsylvania, among men,” Scarborough said.
Scarborough also criticized Democratic party leaders for not pressing for a revamped border security bill after an initial bill was shot down by the Republican-controlled Senate.
“There was some reluctance to go there, to talk about the things that were concerning Americans, that really mattered this year. Illegal immigration, the mass border crossings,” Scarborough said.
“That was something that concerned Hispanic voters. It’s something that concerned black voters. That is something that concerned all voters.”
