'Take the picture down': Morning Joe orders producers to remove Trump's photo while he's praising public servants

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough told producers to take down a photo of President Donald Trump as he lauded the nation's public servants.

The "Morning Joe" host spent most of the show's first hour on the president's reported insults of American troops as "suckers" and "losers," and Scarborough and his panelists agreed the commander in chief didn't understand the first thing about sacrifice or patriotism.

"We're talking about this in terms of the military, our military men and women who, my gosh, they do so much for us every day," Scarborough said, "and they sacrifice because they love their country. How many stories have we heard, how many people close to us did we know who were moved after 9/11? Young men who could have done whatever they wanted to do, young women who could have done whatever they wanted to do, staying home, felt the call at 9/11 to go serve their country."

"Yes, there is that part of it, but it also explains why Donald Trump would have such contempt for the men and women of the State Department," he added, "who as young students decided they wanted to serve their country and go into government because they believed in the American dream and they wanted to protect the American dream. They wanted to spread American values across the globe, or men and women that are serving right now in the Justice Department, who see that they are now being run by Donald Trump's Roy Cohn, and despite their service, giving their life to the Justice Department, they now have to watch an attorney general go in front of cameras and say he doesn't know if voting twice is legal or not, when in North Carolina it's a felony, and he knows that it's illegal."

Scarborough said the president's comments were an insult to every public servant he oversees as chief executive.

"Forgive me for going on, but this is so important because I want to say this to the men and women who are serving in the FBI, the men and women who are serving in the CIA, the professionals serving in government offices in Washington, D.C, all across the country and all across the world," he said. "This is disconcerting and Donald Trump is in the minority. The overwhelming majority of Americans hold you up, and they salute you."

As he spoke, the producers showed a photo of the president speaking at political rallies, and Scarborough interrupted his remarks to bark at them.

"I'd appreciate it if you take the picture of Donald Trump down while I'm saying this," he said, and the photos disappeared.

"The overwhelming majority of Americans, overwhelming majority of Americans, they salute you and they understand that so many of you in the CIA have made great sacrifices, have had to leave your families for months at a time, have had to go overseas," Scarborough added. "So many of you in the FBI, you risk your life for us every day. So many of you in the State Department do as much as you can despite the fact that you have leaders that are more interested in being cronies to the president of the United States than serving this country and who won't even defend your name when Donald Trump attacks you. Understand, you are respected, you are loved by Americans, and we salute you for your service."