Scarborough: ‘This was Donald Trump at his worst’

“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough criticized President Trump’s rally in Arizona Tuesday night, saying that it was “hateful” and “frightening.”

Scarborough said on the MSNBC show Wednesday morning that Trump’s speech is a “disaster” for the country and for “his long-term political health.”

“This was Donald Trump at his worst,” Scarborough said.

{mosads}“The president follows up a scripted speech one day with an absolute disaster the next day,” Scarborough said, referencing Trump’s Arizona rally in comparison to his prime-time address on Afghanistan strategy Monday night.

“There’s no doubt this was a hateful, derisive speech,” he said. “He sounded like an autocrat trying to dehumanize his allies.”

Scarborough discussed Trump’s talking points from the rally and then read a tweet from former Hillary Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon that he said he believed summed up the event.

“Trump tonight saluted a racist sheriff who is a convicted criminal and trashed a war hero who has brain cancer,” read Fallon’s tweet, referencing Trump indirectly insulting Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Trump tonight saluted a racist sheriff who is a convicted criminal and trashed a war hero who has brain cancer.

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) August 23, 2017

At the rally, Trump hinted that he would pardon former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was found guilty of contempt of court after he was ordered to stop racially profiling people he suspected were in the country illegally.

Scarborough also spoke on Trump’s comments on the media, as the president accused members of the media of not loving their country.

“We knew this was coming, and I’m sure many people around him on his staff knew this was coming,” Scarborough said.

In the campaign-style speech, Trump also defended his response to the deadly violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and threatened to shut down the government if he did not get funding for his proposed border wall.