They're Not Usually on Trump's Side, but They Kind of Are Now

When you hear Morning Joe and Trump in a sentence together, you probably expect them to be on opposite sides. Not so much this time: The married MSNBC morning show hosts are taking the president's side, sort of, after he was booed at a World Series game Sunday night. Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on Monday morning took issue with the chants of the crowd at Washington, DC's National Park to "lock him up." That's a play, of course, on Trump's calls to "lock her up" related to Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign. "It’s just un-American," said Scarborough of the chant. "It started with Donald Trump, in fact he’s made it the centerpiece of his campaign rallies." Added Brzezinski, "We find it sickening when it happens at his rallies."

Scarborough continued: "Of course it’s sickening. We are Americans and we do not do that. We do not want the world hearing us chant ‘Lock him up’ to this president or to any president. That’s why I’m saying, let’s hope as we move forward maybe this is one less fascist tactic he and his supporters use during chants." As the Daily Dot reports, the internet did not agree. The site rounds up social media criticism for the pair insisting there was nothing wrong with the chant, and leading Scarborough to respond on Twitter: "So let’s see if I’ve got this straight: When crowds chant 'Lock her up' toward Hillary, it is illiberal and anti-American. (I agree). But when crowds chant the same toward Trump, it is suddenly a fulsome exercise of sacred First Amendment rights." Brzezinski was slightly less staunch in her defense: "While I understand why it happened...And that Trump created this atmosphere, the scene worried me, for exactly that. It is a race to the bottom. Its very difficult not to get caught up. #gohigh." (More Morning Joe stories.)