Scarborough warns Republicans: Don't embrace George Zimmerman as a hero

George Zimmerman's recent visit to a gun factory had Republican MSNBC host Joe Scarborough concerned on Monday about him being taken in by his party.

"This is not a man that Republicans should embrace as a hero," Scarborough said of Zimmerman, who was found not guilty of murder in July 2013 in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. "He is anything but a hero."

Scarborough told his panelists that members of the far right would be tempted to align themselves with Zimmerman, who was criticized by his own lawyers after photos surfaced of him visiting the factory that made the gun he used to shoot and kill Martin.

"We certainly would not have advised him to go to the factory that made the gun that he used to shoot Trayvon Martin through the heart," a spokesperson for Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara, was quoted as saying. "We got the verdict that we believe is just, and the rest of George's life is up to George."

Scarborough and his panelists scoffed at Zimmerman's appearance, noting the distance his legal team was now keeping from him.

"I said from day one during the trial that it was gonna be hard to convict this man," Scarborough told his panelists. "That doesn't mean that many on the far right need to embrace this man, whose own lawyers are now running away from him. He's not a hero."

Watch the discussion, aired Monday on MSNBC, below.

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