MSNBC host Joe Scarborough isn’t letting go of the theory that President Donald Trump’s Gaza comments are a “smokescreen” for something more sinister.
The Morning Joe panel was discussing Trump doubling down on his potentially illegal plans for the embattled region when host Scarborough suggested something murky is going on behind closed doors.
“Again, I think we were talking in the break about Gaza. So much of that I still think is a smoke screen for something else. I could be completely wrong. I think it’s a distraction to distract the public from other things,” he said.
The host suggested Trump shooting from the hip is a classic MAGA distraction tactic, adding: “We all know they came fast to push all of these executive orders in the early days to throw people off balance. They threw Democrats off balance. They threw Republicans off balance. Republican senators who have been around for decades, they were like, ‘I have no idea what’s going on here. This is insane.' They threw the media off. So that was the purpose.
“And now as things settle a bit, maybe we start to see the contours of what’s legal, what’s constitutional, and how the White House is going to respond to reforming government within those confines.”
Trump and Musk were grilled by reporters at the White House on Monday. Asked if the U.S. would force Palestinians out of Gaza to accommodate his “Riviera of the Middle East” plans, Trump replied: “You’re going to see that they’re all going to want to leave.”
However, his messaging on the matter has been contradictory, eliciting a confused reaction. On Monday he also told Fox that Palestinians would not have the right to return to his new-look country, despite saying the exact opposite when he announced the plans earlier this month.
He has previously spoken of resettling Palestinians “in far safer and more beautiful communities.” However, all of Trump’s Gaza plans are murky and, as yet, not publicly detailed.
Republican NewsNight panelist Scott Jennings previously waved away concerns about Trump’s comments about seizing Gaza, saying he is “musing.”
