House Speaker Mike Johnson’s latest criticism of newly elected Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) earned him a beatdown on MSNBC on Tuesday morning, with the co-hosts of “Morning Joe” repeatedly calling his claims “stupid."
The Louisiana Republican spent much of Monday once again blaming the Democrats for the government shutdown and, when pressed on why he refuses to swear in Grijalva, launched a broadside at her.
“I will administer the oath to her,” he began before adding, “I hope on the first day we come back for the legislative session. I'm willing and anxious to do that. In the meantime, instead of doing TikTok videos, she should be serving her constituents. She could be taking their calls. She can be directing them, trying to help them through the crisis that the democrats have created by shutting down the government.”
That led MSNBC host Joe Scarborough to lean into the camera and state, “I mean, his arguments literally become more stupid by the day. I didn't think it was possible, but on this point they become more stupid by the day.”
“You can help your constituents when they're officially your constituents, speaker!” he exclaimed. “So, Mr. Speaker, make her a member of Congress, swear her in like everybody else in your position would do, and then she can go into the offices, then she can help who will then be her constituents.”
“They are not her constituents now, because you keep refusing to swear her in, because you're afraid of what happens when the Epstein files are all released,” he lectured.
“That is what some people believe," co-host Mika Brzezinski chimed in. “The more stupid the explanations get, the more that looks exactly like what's going on.”