'Say his name': Morning Joe calls out Paul Ryan for staying 'silent and meek' against Trump's abuses

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough called out House Speaker Paul Ryan's cowardice when it comes to challenging President Donald Trump.

"The apology tour for Donald Trump at some point has to stop, for Paul Ryan, especially," Scarborough said.

The House Speaker issued a statement -- a week later -- contradicting Trump's insistence that “many sides” were to blame for violence at a white supremacist march in Charlottesville, although Ryan never mentioned the president by name.

He also defended Republican senators who have fallen under attack by the president, although Ryan has never clearly identified Trump as the aggressor.

"Say his name when he equates white supremacists and neo-Nazis with others," Scarborough said. "Say his name when David Duke takes great comfort from the words of the president of the United States. Paul Ryan needs to step up and start doing that, not just for the take of this country but for his own sake."

Jake Sherman, co-author of Politico's "Political Playbook" newsletter, said lawmakers and their staffers were also confused by Ryan's refusal to challenge Trump, whom he tepidly supported during the election.

"It's what everyone is talking about all the time on Capitol Hill, so it's an accurate reflection of the conversation in D.C.," Sherman said.

Ryan must show more courage and speak out against the president, Scarborough said, because his moral equivalency was providing cover to white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

"Paul Ryan's got to stop worrying about his district in Janesville, (Wisconsin), he's got to stop worrying about the next piece of legislation he needs to pass, he's got to worry about something bigger -- and that is the health of our constitutional republic," Scarborough said. "At what point does he speak out? I mean, if you're not going to speak out when the president provides comfort to neo-Nazis and white supremacists, when the hell are you going to start speaking out and showing courage?"

Scarborough said Republican lawmakers and donors are afraid to challenge Trump because they don't think he'll ever change -- but he said they're wrong.

"The only thing that Donald Trump responds to is blunt force, rhetorically or politically, that's all he responds to, and Paul Ryan since Donald Trump has won the nomination has been silent and meek," Scarborough said.