Joe Scarborough had some harsh words for his fellow Republicans on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Tuesday because of recent criticism of President Obama’s effort to deal with ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria.
After acknowledging the apparent fact that the Obama administration is contemplating launching an attack on ISIS in Syria, Scarborough wondered why Republicans are still criticizing the president when he’s clearly preparing to retaliate against the terrorists.
“I wonder what the Republican response is going to be,” said Scarborough. “I wonder what my party wants. And, I wonder this because there has been constant criticism of this president leading from behind. There’s been constant criticism of him not doing enough early enough in Syria.”
“But now that the President of the United States is doing what we hear John McCain and Lindsey Graham and other Republicans say he should do, what’s the response?” the MSNBC host continued. “It’s criticism.”
Scarborough then embarked on an out-of-character defense of President Obama.
“He’s not leading from behind,” asserted Scarborough. “He’s arming the Kurds, something that of course Republicans said they were for but now they’re not saying, ‘Thank you, Mr. President, for doing what we’ve been asking you to do.'”
The “Morning Joe” host knocked Republicans for looking in “the rearview mirror” during such a crisis.
“America’s best days are ahead,” Scarborough continued. “Go ahead, bet against America. Everybody that has over the past 230 years loses. You want to lose now because your party is not in office? Bet against America. But our best days are ahead. I say the same thing of Democrats when every time there’s a Republican in the White House suddenly we’re going to hell in a hand basket.”
Scarborough said that times of “evil” terrorist threats require Republicans and Democrats to work together instead of resisting one another.
“In times like these, we stop looking back at how Republicans screwed it up from 2003 to 2008 and how Democrats screwed it up from 2009 to 2013,” explained Scarborough. “And, instead, we look forward together against an existential threat, like we did for a couple of days after 9/11.”
“I’ve been critical of his foreign policy, I’ve been critical of his domestic policy from the very beginning,” he added. “But, you know what? I love my country more than I love my political party.”
Obama on Monday authorized reconnaissance flights over Syria in the wake of the murder of American journalist James Foley at the hands of an ISIS militant. Such flights indicate that the United States may launch airstrikes against ISIS in Syria.
Interestingly enough, Scarborough also somewhat defended Obama last week for golfing happily on Martha’s Vineyard immediately after delivering an address on Foley’s murder.
