Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough held nothing back on Wednesday when confronted with the results of a new Morning Consult/Politico poll finding that most GOP voters would not find accusations of racist or antisemitic behaviour by a candidate disqualifying.
Mr Scarborough, himself a former Republican congressman, lamented that the poll in his view showed that wide swaths of the GOP voter base were showing “fascist” leanings.
“ [O]nly 38 per cent of Republicans think that people uttering racist remarks are a road block, are a serious road block for the election," said the MSNBC co-host. “[O]nly 38 per cent think that it's a major problem. Less than half of Republicans believe that uttering antisemitic remarks, spewing antisemitic remarks, are a serious problem and a road block to being elected."
Mr Scarborough continued: “That tells you a large chunk of the Republican Party right now, a large chunk of the Republican base are, well, I’m not exactly sure what word you would [use] ... I’ve been using the word ‘fascist’ for some time, that there is a fascist strain in the Republican Party for at least a third or so of those members.”
The poll results were shared on Twitter on Wednesday morning by longtime Morning Joe contributor Sam Stein of Politico, and as noted in Stein’s tweet the poll actually found that those shares of the GOP base found “accusations” of such behavious troubling; it is possible that wider shares would find verified evidence such as video as more convincing and by extension more concerning.
Former President Donald Trump has made remarks throughout his presidency and two campaigns for office that many have described as racist and antisemitic, in particular while critcising American Jews for in his eyes insufficient support for the state of Israel. Despite those remarks, he retains loyalty from a wide majority of GOP voters, according to most recent polling.
The GOP under Donald Trump has openly flirted with far-right white nationalist elements, with one notable example occuring in 2017 when the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville devolved into violence when right-wing extremist attendees battled assembled counterprotesters. Mr Trump, at the time, made remarks that were widely criticised for not clearly condemning the white nationalists at the rally and blaming the violence on both sides.
