Trump promotes conspiracy theory accusing MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough of murder

Source: Politico | May 12, 2020 | Quint Forgey

The president was apparently referring to the 2001 death of congressional staffer Lori Klausutis.

Donald Trump on Tuesday explicitly suggested MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough had committed murder, prompting the morning cable news host to urge the president in real time to stop watching his program “for the sake of America.”

Following a segment on the network’s “Morning Joe” talk show that featured discussion of upcoming Senate testimony by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, as well as critical comments from Scarborough regarding the White House’s coronavirus response, Trump lashed out in a tweet posted just before 7 a.m.

“When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida. Did he get away with murder? Some people think so,” Trump wrote. “Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly? Isn’t it obvious? What’s happening now? A total nut job!”

Trump was apparently referring to the 2001 death of Lori Klausutis, who worked as a staffer in Scarborough’s Fort Walton Beach, Fla., office when he served as a Republican House lawmaker from the state’s 1st Congressional District.

Klausutis’ autopsy revealed she had an undiagnosed heart condition, and a coroner concluded she died after passing out and hitting her head in a fall, according to The Associated Press. She was not struck by another person, the coroner said, and Scarborough was in Washington at the time of her death.

Trump has previously floated the conspiracy theory that the former congressman and current MSNBC personality was involved in Klausutis’ death, tweeting last Monday that the Comcast Corp., “should open up a long overdue Florida Cold Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough.”

Scarborough at the time called that provocation by the president “extraordinarily cruel,” and issued a similar on-air response Tuesday after being alerted to Trump’s inflammatory tweet while broadcasting live.

“For your sake, as I’ve been saying for years — Donald, for your sake, and for the sake of America, you need to stop watching our show, OK? It’s not good for you. I think that might be why you go out and, like — you’re distracted. You’re tweeting so much,” Scarborough said.

“Why don’t you turn off the television, and why don’t you start working, OK?” he continued. “You do your job, we’ll do ours, and America will be much better off for that. Just go. Turn off the TV, Donald.”

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  • Consistent May 12, 2020 at 12:26 pm #38907

    Consistent May 12, 2020 at 12:35 pm #38910

    Consistent May 12, 2020 at 12:59 pm #38913

    EVERYDAY May 12, 2020 at 2:04 pm #38914

    Trump has done nothing as president apart from signing a few executive orders — some of which were struck down by the courts — signing a bunch of spending spree bills that will ultimately bankrupt this nation and nominating a few judges who may or may not necessarily be conservative. Instead of working on the promises he and the Republicans made to the voters for the last decade — ridding us of Obamacare, real tax reform, fixing our broken immigration system, etc., Trump has spent his presidency playing golf, running around the country on his never-ending campaign, watching tv and sending scores of idiotic tweets.

    This country is now experiencing a pandemic. It’s looking to the president for guidance, assurance and assistance. Since Trump can’t hold campaign rallies or go golfing, one would think he would have plenty of time to do what a president should do in a time of crisis. But all Trump does is lie, pick on people he doesn’t like and send stupid tweets.

    But his fans are ok with all of this. They used to rail against Obama for his numerous vacations, golf games and campaign rallies. Trump does much the same thing and more, but it’s all perfectly fine with them. And they believe everything he says — particularly, the conspiracy theories which have no basis in fact and many of which have been disproven.

    What’s really sad is that his believers are not all uneducated people. Many of them have an alphabet soup of degrees. They hold responsible positions in government, industry and the professions. What is in the Trump Kool-Aid that turns highly intelligent people into blind followers of a satanic messiah?

    Consistent May 12, 2020 at 3:42 pm #38925

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