Joe Scarborough has heated rant about Capitol riots: ‘Trump supporters come in and you open the f****** doors for them’

‘You open the doors for them and let them breach the people’s house’

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC on 6 January 2021 (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Joe Scarborough launched into a heated rant about the Capitol riots on Thursday morning, hours after a mob of Pro-Trump rioters breached security and stormed the building.

On Thursday’s Morning Joe broadcast, Scarborough questioned law enforcement’s response to the rioters, asking: “What is it, is it just white people? Or is it Donald Trump supporters? Why do you scream at people for walking across the street three blocks away from the Capitol? ”

With outrage, audibly pounding on his desk, the TV presenter added: “Trump supporters come in and you open the f****** doors for them. You open the doors for them and let them breach the people’s house? What is wrong with you?”

Scaroborough, a former US Representative, outlined the security measures he had to observe at the Capitol when he was a member of Congress, contrasting them with Wednesday’s events.

“Even as a member of Congress, I had to have my I.D to get in,” he said. “If I walked across an adjoining street when no cards were on that street but I didn’t have a walk sign, Capitol Hill police would scream at the top of their lungs and tell us all to get back on the sidewalk.”

He added: “When I was walking to a State of the Union address, across the street from the Capitol, five Capitol Hill police started screaming at me, telling me I had to clear the area.”

Morning Joe, has repeatedly challenged Trump over the past few years, after its hosts, Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, were accused in 2016 of being too soft on the then-presidential candidate. 

The news and talk show opened on Thursday morning with a montage of photos of the violent riots, which have left four dead, set to Johnny Cash’s cover of the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt”.

The excerpt of the song chosen by the Morning Joe team includes lyrics such as “What have I become/My sweetest friend?” and “I will let you down/I will make you hurt”.

It features images of rioters taking over the Capitol – the seat of the legislative branch of government in the US – pushing down barriers, climbing walls, and facing off with police. Donald Trump, his daughter Ivanka, Rudy Giuliani, Senator Ted Cruz, and Senator Josh Hawley are also pictured.