‘He’s the butt of every joke’: MSNBC’s Morning Joe scorches Trump for turning himself into a ‘farce’

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said President Donald Trump has become an international laughingstock, and that's the second worst thing that can happen in politics.

The "Morning Joe" host pointed to the embarrassing spectacle this week of world leaders standing in a circle and mocking the president, who then flew home rather than take part in a scheduled news conference at the NATO summit.

"That sums up where America has got to over the course of the past few months," Scarborough said, "that people are not just given up on this president and his ability to lead on the world stage, they think it's a bit of a joke, and they went, i think, from hoping that America to turn around and they could find a way to deal with Donald Trump."

"Emmanuel Macron put all of that effort into schmoozing Donald Trump, now you see them laughing at him in London," Scarborough added. "You know that's what this president hates. America's not going to be laughed at, he was being laughed at in London. It's a real sign of where America's reputation has fallen just in the course of the past few months, and impeachment plays into that, the fact that he's flying back to these impeachment hearings, people are very conscious of that back in Europe."

The president's political weakness at home has eroded his already shaky standing abroad, Scarborough said.

"In politics, Donald Trump's going from being feared, and I will say in politics there's nothing wrong with being feared," Scarborough said. "The worst -- well, actually the worst thing in politics is people feeling sorry for you."

"The second to worst thing is people laughing at you," he added. "What used to be fear has now turned into farce, and Donald Trump is now the butt of every joke."

Other world leaders feel impunity to act without worrying how the United States would react, because they have so little respect for the president.

"I mean, hell, if you're Iran, you can bomb Saudi Arabian facilities, you know he's going to do nothing about it," Scarborough said. "He threatens, he tweets, even of the impeachment scandal he didn't want the investigation.."

"He's a shallow joke to these world leaders, and they've caught on," he added.