Morning Joe Hosts Nail Why Republicans Rally Around Trump Despite ‘Hating Him’

MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on Wednesday shed light on the Republican Party’s “toxic relationship” with Trump, explaining why GOP lawmakers and conservative media personalities continue to rally around Donald Trump despite facing serious criminal charges, as he was indicted for a third time by special counsel Jack Smith for trying to overturn the 2020 election.

Scarborough pointed to a divide among some Fox News opinion hosts who gave “sad, depressing performances” because they were compelled to cater to their viewers’ expectations. He mentioned how certain Fox News broadcasters, like Steve Doocy and Bret Baier, covered the indictment objectively, but many conservatives still stood by Trump.

“They know what happened, and you can see this on Fox News last night, a split between some opinion hosts who really just turned in some extraordinarily sad, depressing performances, and they’re doing it because they fear, unfortunately, their own viewers,” Scarborough said.

The co-hosts highlighted that some Republicans did the right thing by opposing Trump, but they also emphasized the remarkable number of Republicans who did not act against him over the past six years. The reason, according to Scarborough, was not fear of Trump but rather a strong hatred towards him. They feared losing support from Trump’s base and worried that his supporters might turn to other media outlets or vote for different Republicans.

“So there’s a split, and the people, the same with Republicans, we talked about the Republicans that have done the right thing here, and I think what’s all the more remarkable about Republicans that have done the right thing are how many we’ve seen over the past six years who haven’t,” Scarborough asserted. “They don’t fear Donald Trump — they hate Donald Trump. Let me say that again: Kevin McCarthy, these other Republicans, they don’t fear him — they hate him. They fear his supporters. They fear his supporters will turn the channel to another network. They fear his supporters will vote for another Republican.”

Brzezinski summed it up by saying: “That’s a toxic relationship.”

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