Morning Joe rips White House over Trumpcare: 'This was such an obviously stupid play'

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough ripped President Donald Trump's "stupid" decision to lead off his agenda with health care and then completely botch the process.

The "Morning Joe" host said Trump's mistakes were easily avoidable and show the president and his team have no idea how legislation works.

"This isn't us Monday morning quarterbacking," said Scarborough, a former Republican congressman. "Go back from the very beginning. This was such an obviously stupid play done by somebody, or a group of people, who didn't know how Washington worked."

Scarborough said the White House compounded their error by backing House Speaker Paul Ryan's bill, which contradicted Trump's campaign promises.

"We said it time and time again, they could not decide to lead with health care," he said. "When they decided to lead with health care, why decide to go with Paul Ryan's version of health care? It's was completely opposite of what Donald Trump promised every day on the campaign trail."

The former lawmaker said new presidents are told to follow the House and the Senate's lead, which he said often ends in disaster.

"(That's) what Bill Clinton did in '93 and '94, and Bill Clinton ended up getting destroyed because he went too far left," Scarborough said. "Donald Trump should not have listened to members of the House and the Senate -- I know this sounds cold, but we have been promising to repeal Obamacare for six years. Guess what -- that's their problem, that's not the president of the United States' problem. His problem is getting momentum legislatively, passing tax reform, passing regulatory reform, getting the wind behind their backs and letting Ryan fight with John McCain and others in the Senate, they come together with a bill, and then he comes in at the end and plays peacemaker."

"This was so obvious for anybody who knows how Washington works," Scarborough added, "but it's a lot tougher than it looks on TV, isn't it?"