Scarborough asks why GOP senators won't condemn Trump for accusing Milley of treason
MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough on Tuesday criticized Republican senators for not condemning comments by former President Donald Trump that accused the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of treason.
Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, said the remarks were putting Gen. Mark Milley and his family in danger, and Republicans should have held a press conference to criticize Trump over the comments.
"Silence, always silence," the television host said of the GOP on the issue.
Milley has become a frequent target of the former president, who is the front-runner for his party's 2024 presidential nomination. The general is set to complete his time as leader of the armed forces at the end of this week.
Trump has accused Milley of treason for conversations he had with Chinese officials toward the end of Trump's term. Milley has testified to Congress about the communications, saying he was assuring Beijing that Trump was not planning on attacking Beijing in the final weeks of his presidency.
Scarborough, who frequently criticizes Trump on "Morning Joe," said the silence by the GOP is nothing new.
“When you’re asking where these Republican senators are on the horrible things that are being said about General Milley, you could ask the same question about ‘Where were they when Donald Trump attacked Mitch McConnell back in the fall of last year, because Mitch McConnell supported bipartisan legislation?’ and Trump Truth Social-ed then that he did it because ‘He hates me so much,’ and then he put in all caps, ‘HE HAS A DEATH WISH,’ all caps,” Scarborough said Tuesday during a conversation with former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), a regular on the show.
“And you could ask the question, where are these Republicans, why aren’t they critical of Donald Trump for saying that about General Milley? I’d ask the same thing about Mitch McConnell," he said.
"There should have been a press conference with every Republican senator saying, ‘They’re putting our leader's life, and his family’s life in jeopardy,’ but silence, always silence,” Scarborough added.
In a Friday post on Truth Social, the former president blasted Milley, calling him “a Woke train wreck” and accusing him of treason, apparently over the China conversations.
“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” Trump’s post read. “A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act. To be continued!!!”
Trump wasn’t the only politician to appear to threaten death against Milley in the last week. Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar (R) suggested Milley should be “hung” for his response to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.