‘Makes No Political Sense!’ Joe Scarborough Warns Republicans Will ‘Lose’ Against Jack Smith ‘Every Time’
Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough warned Republicans and President Donald Trump that giving former special counsel Jack Smith “free time to explain” his case against the president “makes no political sense” and is a fight they will “lose.”
Smith mounted a forceful defense of his prosecutions of Trump, rejecting Republican accusations that the cases were driven by partisan motives while appearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday. He argued the two federal prosecutions, one concerning Trump’s handling of classified documents and the other examining efforts to overturn the 2020 election, were grounded in evidence and the law, not politics.
Both cases were abandoned after Trump was re-elected in November 2024, in line with a long-standing Department of Justice policy that bars the prosecution of a sitting president, and Smith stepped down shortly before Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.
The hearing, however, marked Smith’s most extensive public remarks since leaving office.
Reflecting on the decision to call Smith forward for testimony, Scarborough argued there were other cases brought against Trump that Republicans could challenge:
It really makes no political sense because if you’re Donald Trump and you really want to focus on cases, focus on the case brought in Manhattan, which was always suspect as far as the legal theory. I said it at the time, but I still say it, I don’t understand Alvin Bragg’s legal theory, I never will. You could also focus on the New York state case, which, again, just clearly excessive fines leveled against the president, which of course, the courts confirmed. Except, you know, you can focus on [District Attorney] Fani Willis and the way she ran her investigation in Georgia with all of the problems that she had.
He continued, warning that taking on Smith was a battle Republican lawmakers would “lose”:
The problem with going after Jack Smith is that even Donald Trump has admitted privately, you know, if they’d only come after me with one case, one or two, I would have been in trouble. The best thing that ever happened to me was I came after me like four or five or six cases, and it was just overwhelming to the American people.
So I guess my question is, why in the world would Republicans want to bring up the one or two cases even the president admits he could have been convicted on, if they had focused on that?
It’s so stupid for the Republicans to give Jack Smith free time to explain, the grand jury’s in two different places said that the president needed to be indicted. The witnesses against the president were all of his former Republican workers, Republican staff members, workers at Mar-a-Lago. I mean, again, this makes no political sense.
If you’re Donald Trump, if you’re the Republicans, let Jack Smith go, because you’re going to lose that. You may be able to win fights against less seasoned, less competent prosecutors. You’re going to lose that fight against Jack Smith every time, you just are, politically.
Watch above via MS NOW.
New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!
Comments
↓ Scroll down for comments ↓