Morning Joe rips 'right-wing freaks' for 'stupid' scheme to force Jim Jordan into speaker

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough ripped the "right-wing freaks" who are threatening Republican lawmakers and their spouses in an effort to force Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) into the role of House speaker.

Multiple GOP members of Congress reported death threats made to them and their families during this week's votes on on Donald Trump's choice to replace Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House, and the "Morning Joe" host condemned the pressure tactics as morally wrong and politically stupid.

"That guy right there, his people are calling the wives, texting the wives of Republican members and threatening them," Scarborough said. "[Rep.] Ken Buck, got a report that Ken Buck's lease in his local office got canceled because he didn't support Jim Jordan. Pressure is mounting from all over, from right-wing freaks. Let me say it again, right-wing freaks who are threatening, threatening Republican members if they don't support the speaker. Listen, I'm not good at politics, that's not really a good way to win friends and influence fellow members of Congress. In fact, in the words of Aristotle, be ye careful, ye may piss them off. I didn't know 'ye' was used in ancient Greek, but, you know what? I think he was right."

Jordan temporarily gave up his bid for the speaker's gavel Thursday and backed a plan to empower interim speaker Patrick McHenry (R-NC), but after a heated closed-door meeting with other Republicans called for another vote for himself.

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"Within a couple of hours, Republicans got together, and this portion of the Republican caucus being stupid as they are politically, so stupid, were saying, 'That would be like turning the floor over to the Democrats, that would be' – another one was waving his Constitution, saying that that would be unconstitutional," Scarborough said. "Is North Carolina a breakaway republic? Why would it be turning the floor over to Democrats if you gave the speakership temporarily to a Republican from North Carolina? Things could run effectively. They could pass appropriation bills, and the Republican Party would not get further, like, battered by all of this, and America could speak with one voice on terror attacks."

Watch the video below or at this link.

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