MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough has pointed to a detail in newly declassified intelligence documents, suggesting that former President Donald Trump adopted talking points pushed by Russian actors regarding the 2020 election.
Scarborough stated on Friday that the documents show intelligence community admissions from 2020 indicating that Trump utilized narratives promoted by Russia concerning voter fraud and mail-in balloting. He read from a document stating, “Russian actors have circulated narratives about voter fraud resulting from mail-in balloting and called some U.S. primary voting processes rigged by the Democratic Party.”
“where basically the intel community, and this was Donald Trump’s intel community in 2020, admitting that Donald Trump was using Vladimir Putin’s talking points,” Scarborough said.
His remarks followed a primetime speech by Trump on Thursday, during which he reiterated debunked election conspiracies. Trump also announced he had declassified documents he claimed demonstrated Chinese interference in the 2020 election. However, according to the notes, these documents indicate that Russian actors worked against Joe Biden’s campaign, while China “prefers that President Trump be defeated.”
Scarborough characterized the situation as “staggering” and “overwhelming incompetence,” noting that the document Trump released to purportedly prove election rigging actually stated that Russia's aim was to defeat Biden and ensure Trump's victory. “The only thing he proves is, well, let me read his words, that the ‘Russians’ aim was to defeat Joe Biden and ensure Donald Trump’s victory.’ That’s Russia,” Scarborough commented. He added that Trump accepted these Russian talking points “hook, line and sinker.”
Scarborough also claimed that Republicans on Capitol Hill were reportedly concerned about Trump's speech, particularly in light of public anxieties over gas prices and the cost of living.