Scarborough formally leaves GOP, registers as independent

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough announced in a tweet on Thursday that he had officially registered as an independent, roughly three months after he said he was leaving the Republican Party.

“I became an independent today. Here I am holding a copy of Donald Trump’s birth certificate, proving he was born in Nambia,” Scarborough tweeted. 

I became an independent today. Here I am holding a copy of Donald Trump’s birth certificate, proving he was born in Nambia. pic.twitter.com/9xZ6eh7Fr2

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) October 12, 2017

Scarborough’s tweet was making reference to Trump’s past demands to see former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Trump, once the leader of the so-called “birther” movement, had questioned whether Obama was actually born in the U.S. 

Scarborough’s comment was also alluding to an incident in which Trump, speaking to African leaders at the United Nations in September, referenced a nonexistent country called “Nambia.”

“Actually, that’s the New Canaan Registrar of Voters John Amarilios after I became an unaffiliated voter,” Scarborough said in a second tweet, referring to the man standing next to him in the picture. Scarborough is a resident of New Canaan, Conn.

Earlier on Thursday, Scarborough had posted a slightly different version of the initial tweet, which he soon deleted.

The TV host’s announcement comes three months after he announced he was leaving the GOP during an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” 

{mosads}”I am a Republican, but I’m not going to be a Republican anymore,” Scarborough, who is a former Florida Republican congressman, told Colbert. 

The announcement came after President Trump launched a Twitter attack on “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski’s appearance, saying that she was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” when she and Scarborough visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on New Year’s Eve.

Scarborough has been a vocal critic of the Republican Party in the wake of Trump’s presidency. 

The host said in a tweet on Wednesday that Trump was destroying the GOP. 

The destruction of the Republican Party will be part Trump’s political legacy, and the least damning. https://t.co/2WySrCjP2i

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) October 11, 2017

The Republican National Committee for its part has targeted Scarborough’s show, calling it “the worst case of Trump Derangement Syndrome” last May.