MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough said it was “un-American” for the crowd to chant “lock him up” at President Trump when he was shown at Nationals Park during Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday night in Washington, D.C.
“It’s un-American,” Scarborough said Monday morning of the chant, which originated as a chant against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. “It started with Donald Trump. In fact, he’s made it a centerpiece of his campaign rallies.”
Co-host Mika Brzezinski interjected that she finds it “sickening” when Trump supporters use the chant “lock her up.”
{mosads}“Of course it’s sickening,” Scarborough agreed. “We are Americans and we do not do that. We do not want the world hearing us chant ‘lock him up’ to this president or to any president.”
Scarborough concluded he hopes “as we move forward, maybe this is one less fascist tactic [Trump] and his supporters use.”
Scarborough took to Twitter after the segment aired to defend himself against his critics.
“So let’s see if I’ve got this straight: When crowds chant ‘Lock her up” toward Hillary, it is illiberal and anti-American. (I agree). But when crowds chant the same toward Trump, it is suddenly a fulsome exercise of sacred First Amendment rights. What hypocritical clowns,” he tweeted.
He added that those who “think that democracy is strengthened by calling for the arrest of political opponents” are as “ignorant and illiberal” as the president himself.
“Delete your account and read some civics,” Scarborough fired back. “Stop embarrassing yourself.”
The perspective from Scarborough, a former GOP congressman who frequently tangles with Trump, comes after the crowd booed and chanted “lock him up” when the president appeared on the scoreboard at Nationals Park Sunday night in Game 5 of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals.
Demonstrators also unfurled “Veterans for Impeachment” banners behind home plate.
–This report was updated at 2:00 p.m.