MSNBC's Joe Scarborough blames Trump for GOP candidate Greg Gianforte's alleged assault of a reporter

Joe Scarborough.
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/MSNBC)

Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough was quick to draw a line between the rhetoric of President Trump and Montana GOP candidate Greg Gianforte's apparent assault on a reporter Wednesday, on the eve of a special House election. "The fish rots, again, from the head," Scarborough said.

Scarborough added that while he is a Republican "for now," the current iteration of the party is not the one "I grew up in."

"I'm not just talking about now. I'm talking about the brutish behavior from the top. I want to hear Republicans speak out against it, starting with [House Speaker] Paul Ryan and [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell, and say this is not acceptable and, no, we do not want [Gianforte's] vote here. We want no part of this guy," Scarborough said.

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But Trump was not off the hook either. "I guess the [Gianforte incident] should not be too surprising in an age of Trump, where he calls the press the 'enemy of the people,'" Scarborough said. "These reckless words have consequences." Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.