Bill Kristol sparred with MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Thursday, accusing the “Morning Joe” hosts of treating Donald Trump gently.
“This show was really tough on Trump in late 2015 and early 2016,” The Weekly Standard founder and editor said sarcastically.
{mosads}“We were,” Scarborough responded to Kristol.
“Oh fine,” replied Kristol, a leading figure of the “Never Trump” movement. “If that’s your way of rewriting history.”
Scarborough then challenged Kristol, highlighting times when the show criticized Trump during the GOP presidential primaries.
“Please don’t come on my air and lie,” Scarborough said. “I can’t even believe you’re doing this. I don’t know why you’re so bitter. You’re practically crying.”
“By the way, while you’re attacking me personally, I said from the beginning, I would never vote for him,” Scarborough said of Trump, the Republican nominee.
“I said I was voting for Jeb Bush and then I said I was voting for John Kasich, and then we said after the Muslim ban this is what Germany looked like in 1933. I’m sorry we were easy on [Trump], if comparing him to Hitler in 1933 is going easy on him,” Scarborough added.
The war of words on “Morning Joe” began when Kristol called Trump a “failed, fluke presidential candidate.”
“Failed fluke?” Brzezinski asked. “Your people elected him and nominated him. That’s not a fluke. He beat like 16 people.”
“He won it in a fluky way,” Kristol responded. “I hope it was a fluke. Some Republicans have refused to support him, and he’s going to lose the general election.”
“A fluke is something nobody expected,” Brzezinski said.
“Fine, the Republican Party should feel bad,” Kristol replied, his voice rising. “Does that make you feel better? Does that make you feel great?
“The Republican Party nominated a guy who’s really a bad guy as president, and you think it’s funny and amusing.”
Trump during the debate refused to say whether he would accept the election’s results.
–Updated: 3:05 p.m.