GOP Rep. Warns Trump On Wild Scarborough Murder Claim: 'Just Stop. It Will Destroy Us.'
An Illinois Republican congressman warned President Donald Trump Sunday to “just stop” with his outrageous insinuations that MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough is a murderer.
“Completely unfounded conspiracy. Just stop,” a frustrated Rep. Adam Kinzinger tweeted, lashing Trump’s attack on Scarborough, a frequent critic of the president. “Stop spreading it, stop creating paranoia. It will destroy us,” he added, apparently referring to Republicans and future elections — or possibly America.
Completely unfounded conspiracy. Just stop. Stop spreading it, stop creating paranoia. It will destroy us. https://t.co/XgDl6LmANb
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) May 24, 2020
GOP critics weren’t concerned about Trump pulling down the party alone.
If only Republicans had some sort of clue 🤦🏼♂️ pic.twitter.com/xvwZljbZeB
— doug (@dougRESISTance) May 24, 2020
It's interesting watching you folks attempt to control the monster that you created. Just remember that all of the damage and death he has inflicted on our country is a direct result of the @GOP and all who support it.
— TurboTachs (@TurboTachs) May 24, 2020
Kinzinger was one of the hordes of critics who packed Twitter with outraged responses after Trump repeatedly indicated that Scarborough was somehow linked to the death of a former intern when he was a Florida congressman. Authorities determined that the 2001 death of 28-year-old intern Lori Lausutis was accidental after she collapsed of an undiagnosed heart condition and struck her head on a desk.
Scarborough’s wife and co-host, Mika Brzezinski, called Trump a “cruel, disgusting. sick person” on their program Wednesday. “He’s once again tweeting conspiracy theories about Joe, falsely accusing him of murder,” she said.
Trump’s drumbeat attack on Scarborough, co-host of “Morning Joe,” and vicious tweets linking followers to an unhinged conspiracy site, is widely regarded as a desperate attempt by the president to distract the public. He hopes to direct attention away from criticism of his lack of leadership during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis that has now claimed nearly 100,000 lives, critics argue.
For many, the unwarranted attack on a critic in the media was a bridge too far, even for Trump.
The President's Twitter feed is now indistinguishable from the craziest MAGA trolls. It is the evidentiary record that he is mentally unstable and unable to execute the duties of his office.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 24, 2020
it's just the president of the united states straight up accusing a tv host of murder. very cool, very normal, very dignified, very presidential and not at all the kind of thing a vulgar unhinged morally-bankrupt sweaty warthog would do
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) May 24, 2020
You are pushing a conspiracy to try to get the American people to forget you killed 100,000 of our fellow Americans
We will not forget and we will vote.— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) May 24, 2020
We'd prefer to focus less on one death 30 years ago and focus more on the 100,000 deaths you're accountable for now.
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) May 24, 2020
Donald Trump doesn’t care about Lori Klausutis or her family. She lost consciousness from an abnormal heart rhythm collapsed and hit her head. But facts don’t matter to Trump, he’d rather use this tragedy to make disgusting false accusations. 😳 #FactsMatter #UnfitToBePresident
— Jules Morgan (@glamelegance) May 24, 2020
The more you smear, the more fall from your fold pic.twitter.com/85YXL5aOXs
— Les Hail Yes (@LesHailYes) May 24, 2020
Tweets also lit up with criticism for Twitter and CEO Jack Dorsey for not taking down Trump’s unfounded murder insinuation against Scarborough, while cracking down on other users for far less important policy violations.
Brzezinski said in a tweet Wednesday that she planned to speak to Dorsey about getting the president banned from the social media platform for violating Twitter’s policies “every day.”
Twitter did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for comment.
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I will be reaching out to head of twitter about their policies being violated every day by President Tump. Hope my call is taken. Please retweet if you agree
— Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) May 20, 2020
@jack Please do something when he breaks every rule that we have to follow on here. We get suspended but he just tweets and tweets lies and targeted harassment and you do nothing. This is insane. #TwitterRulesForEveryoneExceptTrump
— DPersisted (@DPersisted) May 24, 2020
@Jack and @TwitterSupport. So it's cool to accuse someone of murder on Twitter? Seems illegal to me. Plus a violation of your hateful conduct policy. What gives? pic.twitter.com/UqBOwtYFnA
— Ann Lewis Hamilton (@AnnLHamilton) May 24, 2020
Come on, @jack. How long are you going to allow this? Enough!
— Eric Slater (@ericsslater) May 24, 2020
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.