Scarborough: Trump Border Strategy Has ‘Failed Historically’

Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough on Friday compared Donald Trump’s failed border security plan with the New Coke debacle. He said that Trump is doubling down on a political strategy that failed miserably in last fall’s midterm elections.

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Trump  forced a deeply unpopular government shutdown over funding for his border wall, and now he is again threatening to send U.S. troops to the border to stop caravans of migrants — just as he did ahead of the midterms.

“If you just look at vote total in the history of America for any midterm election, (Republicans) lost by more than any other party ever, they lost more seats than at any time since Watergate,” Scarborough said. “Then this (president) decides he’s going to double down on that — remember the strategy going into that election was the fake caravans, the fake border crisis, the fake need to send troops done to the border, right?”

“It failed historically,” he added. “This is like from Coca-Cola to New Coke, right?”

MSNBC contributor Donny Deutsch laughed and said that was exactly the comparison he was going to make, but Scarborough took the analogy even further.

“Except now we’re moving from New Coke,” Scarborough said. “It would be as if the board of directors in Atlanta, Georgia, for Coca-Cola said, and forgive me for saying it this morning, ‘Hey, you know what, New Coke didn’t work, so we’re going to add cat urine to it.’”

“It’s the worst it’s ever been in history, the worst loss since Watergate,” Scarborough said. “He’s doubling down on the strategy, and now his answer is — and this is where our cat part comes in — he’s going to continue, but now he’s going to violate the United States Constitution, right, and he’s going to have the Supreme Court most likely overturn his decision (to declare a national emergency) unanimously.”

“This is a board of directors that — I mean, they got to step in to save themselves,” he added.

Deutsch said the president’s strategy revealed troubling insights into his mental state.

“It would be like bringing back the wall now and say, not only are we going to have the wall, we’re going to embroider the wall — that’s going to make the difference here,” Deutsch said. “I go back and it seems like a thin response and a cheap shot, and you’ve got nothing else to say, (but) he’s insane.”

CLICK HERE to watch the Morning Joe video on YouTube.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.