Media

Scarborough: Conservatives would have raised ‘holy hell’ if Obama attacked FBI like Trump

by Max Greenwood - 12/23/17 5:24 PM ET

“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough said Saturday that Democratic presidents, like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, would have faced swift backlash from GOP lawmakers if they criticized the FBI in the same vein as President Trump.

“If Bill Clinton or Barack Obama slandered the FBI or any law enforcement officers the way Trump does, conservatives would have raised holy hell,” the MSNBC host tweeted. “Now most are accomplices with their silence. Good luck in 2018, boys.”

If Bill Clinton or Barack Obama slandered the FBI or any law enforcement officers the way Trump does, conservatives would have raised holy hell. Now most are accomplices with their silence.
Good luck in 2018, boys. #ByeBye

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 23, 2017

The comments from Scarborough, a vocal Trump critic, followed on the heels of a series of tweets from Trump targeting top FBI officials on Saturday, including Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and former Director James Comey.

{mosads}

Trump suggested that McCabe may have been compromised in his capacity at the agency by political influence and that Comey was responsible for leaking information to the press.

The tweets were Trump’s latest criticizing the nation’s premier law enforcement agency. Earlier this month, he said the FBI’s reputation was in “tatters” and that Americans had lost faith in the agency’s ability to fairly and objectively conduct investigations.

Trump has routinely criticized the agency since before he took office, accusing it of mishandling the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of State and of showing bias toward his campaign.

Responding to a tweet posted by Benjamin Wittes, a Brookings Institution fellow and friend of Comey, Scarborough said that he would donate to the FBI Agents Association, a group representing thousands of active and former agents in the bureau.