On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” co-host Joe Scarborough slammed the violence in Berkeley by stating that Antifa members are acting like fascists and arguing that the “thuggery” in Berkeley “is an absolute disgrace.”
Scarborough said there’s an “ongoing problem, in Berkeley especially, where members of the far left are using violence to shut down free speech, and there, to shut down demonstrators.”
Axios National Political Reporter Jonathan Swan said, “I resent the branding of these as anti-fascist protesters. They are nothing if not fascistic in their behavior.” Scarborough agreed, saying, “They’re fascist in their behavior, aren’t they? There’s nothing anti-fascist about that.”
Veteran columnist Mike Barnicle stated that suppression of free speech on campuses is “getting to near-epidemic proportion.”
Scarborough asked who is in charge at Berkeley and “why can’t they protect free speech? What’s your problem in Berkeley? Why can’t you protect free speech? If you need me to help you out, we can get some people that will actually protect the First Amendment. … But this sort of thuggery going on in your streets, on your college campuses, is an absolute disgrace.”
New York Times reporter Nick Confessore argued, “[I]f you hate Ann Coulter, if you hate Milo, the worst thing you can do to them is not show up to their speech, and ignore it. But the second best thing you can do for them, after agreeing with them, is to show up, protest, shut them down, and give them the theater that helps them show that you are the actual free speech oppressor.”
Scarborough stated, “This only helps extremists on the other side.”
Confessore and Scarborough also argued that inevitably, the circle of speech that isn’t allowed becomes wider.
Swan wondered who would want to hire the “mentally stunted snowflakes at these colleges?”
Scarborough then told the “mentally stunted snowflakes” that they need to listen to viewpoints they don’t agree with. He added, “This, Mike, is part of the reason why Democrats have become so disconnected.” He added that right-wing bubbles exist, but that this discussion was about “college campuses and the snowflake culture that’s being created, Mike, that will, in the end, it will hurt the left if they continue to coddle them and not throw those people in jail.”
Barnicle then stated, “Nothing puts a bigger smile on Steve Bannon’s face than the violence that we just saw, and this snowflake culture than Jonathan reference on college campuses, and taken up, in part, by some elements of the Democratic Party.” Scarborough agreed with that point.
(h/t Grabien)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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