President Donald Trump's apparent "self-dealing" is becoming a political issue for the Republican Party, according to MSNBC's Joe Scarborough.
The president and his family have raked in up to $1 billion since he returned to office in January, according to some estimates, and Trump's sons have reportedly used their father's position for their own benefit in business ventures. But the "Morning Joe" host said this weekend's "Great Gatsby"-themed party at Mar-a-Lago exemplified a growing problem for Republicans.
"If I were a Republican running on Tuesday and again, there's this obliviousness to what's going on there," Scarborough said. "There's this self-dealing, there's these 'Gatsby'-themed parties, and, again, let's show this, this poll, NBC News poll that shows that when it comes to we've talked about the right track, wrong track direction over and over again that that's upside down, that most people, most polls that were out last week and the week before show Donald Trump in the 30s.
"As far as approval ratings on the economy here, only 34 percent of Americans believe that he's lived up to expectations on the economy."
"Nearly two out of three say he's fallen short, and with food assistance being torn from people in red state America especially, but also blue state America, there are a lot of people in his own party that are asking, what the hell's going on?" Scarborough added.
Co-host Jonathan Lemire explained how images from the party came into public view and revealed the White House reaction to questions about it.
"You're right, that party on Friday as the government remains shut down, just hours before the SNAP deadline, where suddenly millions of Americans would go hungry," Lemire said. "This 'Great Gatsby'-themed party at Mar-a-Lago – I'm going to hazard a guess that President Trump hasn't read the book and knows how it turned out.
"The White House press pool was briefly allowed inside," Lemire added. "What we're not showing here is there were also scantily clad dancers in martini glasses. But that White House official told the pool there, quote, 'a little party never killed nobody.'"
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