Scarborough: Pence ‘suspiciously presidential’ during Texas visit

BBC reporter Katy Kay said Vice President Pence looked “suspiciously presidential” during his visit to hurricane-ravaged Texas, as assessment co-host Joe Scarborough agreed with on Friday’s edition of “Morning Joe.” 

“Joe, you saw the pictures of Vice President Pence down there, gloves on, clearing the brush, looking suspiciously presidential down in Texas,” Katy Kay, a BBC journalist and regular “Morning Joe” guest, said to Scarborough. 

“Suspiciously presidential,” he concurred. “I talked about it before, where a president or a vice president or a governor comes to your community and you’re suffering, it makes a huge difference.”  

Pence helped clear debris in Rockport, Texas, while praising the response from both federal, state and local officials as well as thousands of volunteers.

Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in southeast Texas last week as a Category 4 storm, has claimed at killed at least 40. Officials say it will take months for the region to fully recover.

Pence helps clean up debris from downed trees in Rockport. pic.twitter.com/ThKVmQqTM5

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) August 31, 2017

“Certainly with the trip of the vice president yesterday, and also with President Trump a few days ago, and again he’s coming this weekend, that message is sent loud and clear to the people of Texas, isn’t it?” Scarborough asked MSNBC political analyst Mark Halperin. 

Halperin offered backhanded praise for the administration.

“In the face of horrible tragedy, you’ve seen this administration, particularly the vice president’s visit yesterday as the latest example, acting as normal as they’ve acted at any time,” the “Game Change” author said. 

“Business as usual is sometimes the right thing to do and there’s reasons why those presidential and vice presidential visits are so welcome, not just the symbolism and uplift, but also the implicit understanding that that means when they get back to Washington, they’re going to work on funding.”

Trump visited Texas on Tuesday, with the vice president following suit on Thursday. 

Trump will return to Texas again on Saturday.