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

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.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

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