'Stop lying, Mike': Joe Scarborough calls out Speaker Johnson for 'embarrassing' new claim
MS NOW host and former GOP lawmaker Joe Scarborough sharply rebuked House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday, accusing him of hypocrisy after the speaker claimed Democrats were trying to "steal" elections.
The exchange stemmed from Johnson's appearance on Fox Business's "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo," where, according to a clip shared by the anti-Trump outlet The Bulwark, the speaker framed an election fight in stark partisan terms.
"We can't allow big blue states and crooked Democrat governors to try to steal elections away from us," Johnson said.
Scarborough was unsparing in his response, calling on the speaker to drop the rhetoric and pointing to the circumstances of Johnson's own path to power.
"Stop lying, Mike. You're embarrassing yourself," Scarborough wrote.
The host then zeroed in on what he characterized as Johnson's selective outrage, noting that the speaker had no objection to California Republicans when their votes helped install him in his leadership post.
"You were fine becoming Speaker with the help of California congressmen elected the same way," Scarborough wrote, before posing a pointed challenge: "Will you surrender the Speaker's gavel and not allow California Republicans to be seated in January?"
He closed with a dismissive flourish: "I didn't think so."
The clash comes amid escalating tensions over election administration and redistricting, with both parties accusing the other of attempting to tilt the electoral map ahead of the November midterms. Johnson's comments, delivered in a segment nominally focused on the defense budget, reflected the increasingly combative posture Republican leaders have taken toward Democratic-run states.
For Scarborough, a former Republican congressman turned vocal critic of the party's current direction, the speaker's framing presented an opening to highlight what he portrayed as a glaring inconsistency in the official position.
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