MSNBC's Morning Joe busts Trump scheme for keeping unqualified 'lackey' as intel chief

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough busted President Donald Trump for nominating an already-rejected candidate for the top intelligence job as a ploy for keeping another unqualified nominee in place.

The president has tapped Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) to be the permanent director of national intelligence, after raising alarm by tapping German ambassador Richard Grenell for the job in an acting capacity.

"I'm just wondering," Scarborough asked Associated Press correspondent Jonathan Lemire, "do you have any reporting that suggests that he, that Donald Trump selected Ratcliffe, somebody already proven to be very unpopular even with Republican senators, just as a tactic to keep Grenell in there, despite the fact many in the foreign policy community said that Grenell is the worst selection he could ever make for the acting DNI director?"

If Ratcliffe's nomination was pulled or rejected during a confirmation process, Lemire said, that would buy more than six more months on the job for Grenell under the Vacancies Act -- and Scarborough called on GOP senators to block that from happening.

"Many diplomats across Europe and the world have told me they consider Grenell to be one of the worst ambassadors they've ever seen in all of their years of public service," Scarborough said. "I think most American diplomats and people in the foreign policy community would agree he is a nightmare. So if this is nothing more than a tactic to keep him in place, that is a clear and present danger for the United States of America, and by the way, anybody defending Grenell in this position reveals themselves to be nothing more than a Trump lackey, and are humiliating themselves."

"He is not up to this job, especially, just like he wasn't up for the job in Germany," Scarborough added. "This is an embarrassment even for Republicans, even for Donald Trump supporters."