President Trump is at his best when he’s focused on achieving substantive results. He’s at his worst on Twitter.
Monday was no exception. In a bizarre and random tweet during the early morning, the president decided to promote a worn-out conspiracy theory that alleges MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough had something to do with the 2001 death of his former intern, Lori Klausutis.
“Concast” should open up a long overdue Florida Cold Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough. I know him and Crazy Mika well, used them beautifully in the last Election, dumped them nicely, and will state on the record that he is “nuts”. Besides, bad ratings! #OPENJOECOLDCASE
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2020
Klausutis interned for Scarborough’s office when he was a GOP lawmaker representing Florida’s 1st District. She had an abnormal heart rhythm, according to the medical examiner, and as a result, she lost consciousness, fell, and hit her head on a desk, which caused her death.
There has never been any evidence to suggest Klausutis’s death was anything but an accident, nor is there any reason to put her family through another debate about a traumatic and deeply upsetting event. But that’s exactly what will happen since the president decided to use his platform to encourage his supporters to investigate Scarborough’s “cold case,” as he’s calling it.
This is a ridiculous display of pettiness from someone who has much better things to do. And what makes it even worse is that Trump’s tweet was seemingly unprompted. He and Scarborough have feuded frequently, to be sure, but not as of late. So it seems Trump decided to pick a fight with Scarborough for no reason at all, all while needlessly dragging an innocent family into the public eye.
What we need right now is concise and responsible leadership. The United States is trying to navigate one of the worst public health crises this nation has ever experienced, yet somehow our president thought it was necessary to float a baseless conspiracy theory.
Trump has done a lot of things right during his time in office. But he often ends up becoming his own worst enemy. It’s time to log off, Mr. President.
