MSNBC host Joe Scarborough warned that the discourse surrounding demonstrations against the war in Gaza across college campuses are helping former President Trump’s election chances.
Scarborough compared the current protests to those of the anti-war movement in the 1960s.
“I remember my parents asking, what in the world is going on in this country? And of course, you know, they were raised in the Great Depression and rural Georgia,” he said Thursday on “Morning Joe,” adding “Kind of hard for them to hear rich kids on the campus of Harvard are taking over, or taking over campuses at Columbia.”
The host continued, insisting the outrage the demonstrations are receiving from conservatives in America are helping Trump politically.
“If you’re offended by this, please, I’m trying to help you,” he said. ”I don’t want Donald Trump to get elected. All right? I’m trying to help you. If you’re too stupid to figure that out, you can change to another channel.”
The host’s comments were first highlighted by Mediaite.
The demonstrations have broken out in the wake of Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands in the region since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.
Trump has suggested the demonstrations against the war have been treated more gently than those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He also made unfounded claims that earlier this week that Columbia University’s protesters included “paid agitators” and called the interference by police a “beautiful thing to watch.”
Scarborough reiterated his belief that the continued demonstrations “are not helping.”
“This is not helping the people of Gaza,” he said. “And this is not helping those of us who want to help fight fascism in America.”