MSNBC's Joe Scarborough warned that Elon Musk's efforts to "strip the government down to its stubs" will weaken the U.S. at home and abroad.
President Donald Trump and his billionaire benefactor have pushed out federal employees at all levels of the government and frozen foreign aid distributed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which Musk denounced as a "criminal organization." The "Morning Joe" host on Friday expressed alarm about the consequences of those moves.
"Everything that happens in 2025 with a Republican president could happen in 2029 with a Democratic president," Scarborough said. "I think more to the point, though, when there are all these strategic missteps, when there is the gutting of USAID, an organization, again, that helps us actually collect data on al Qaeda, whether it's in the Ivory Coast or across the world. We actually collect data on al Qaeda through USAID. We actually get sources on al Qaeda and ISIS and others, China trying to make moves across Africa."
"There will be blowback, and when that comes, those Republican senators that are sitting back letting this happen will be responsible," Scarborough added.
The Trump administration also purged the FBI over the weekend of agents who had worked on criminal cases against the president, and Scarborough said he and his billionaire benefactor were tipping the nation into danger.
"That is great news for our enemies," Scarborough said. "Every Republican senator knows this to be the case, every Republican House member knows this to be the case. If you are focusing your attention on purges at the Pentagon and purges at the FBI, then your enemies are the ones, your foreign enemies are the ones who are celebrating because they're getting more powerful, because you're taking your eyes off the ball, and by the way, I'll be the first to say, and I've said it, reform at the FBI, reform at the Pentagon, reform at USAID, reform across the government, a great idea. but, you know, one of Elon Musk's close associates said his goal and the goal of other billionaires that are involved in this are to strip the government down to its studs."
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Co-host Mika Brzezinski shook her head in sorrow and singled out a handful of GOP senators who understood what was happening but had taken no steps to stop it.
"I'm just thinking of a handful of Republican senators that we have known over the years that we've met with – [John] Barrasso, [John] Thune, Lindsey Graham, Dave McCormick, Susan Collins – I mean, they know this," Brzezinski said. "They absolutely know this – 100 percent."
"Every last one of them knows this is dangerous," Scarborough agreed. "A purge at the FBI is dangerous. If somebody stepped over the line, then yes, deal with those people accordingly. But a wholesale purge there, a wholesale purge at USAID ... telling every USAID worker to stay at home, there are ramifications, hard power, soft power, investigative power. Our enemies are loving this."
Watch the video below or at this link.
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