MSNBC host Joe Scarborough disparaged Sen. John Kennedy's (R-LA) southern accent during a tirade Thursday morning.
Scarborough was upset at Kennedy for wanting to cautiously reopen parts of the economy so Americans can start going back to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Scarborough accused Kennedy of using a fake accent since he went to Oxford University for a portion of his college career.
We’re going to have to trust Americans to reopen the economy in the right places, in smart ways, at the right time.
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) April 16, 2020
If we don't, it's going to collapse, and, if the U.S. economy collapses, the world economy collapses.
Trying to burn down the village to save it won't work. pic.twitter.com/zak3EXzxrJ
"I don’t even — this is a guy — I think he went to Oxford. He’s a big John Kerry supporter. A man about town, obviously. Very, very erudite, or however they say that in Oxford. But he says in his cornpone made-up accent that, 'Yeah, closed down, people still died.' He knows that without the social distancing, he knows without the lockdowns, he knows this — he may be playing stupid on TV. He may be acting like he is dumb as dishwater on TV — but he knows without the social distancing, instead of 30,000 people dead right now, it’d probably be 300,000 people dead right now," Scarborough said.
"He also has to know that if we reopen the government too quickly, without the testing, if we reopen the economy without widespread testing, a lot more people are going to die. And here it comes, John Kennedy, I like how you talk like that, Mr. Oxford. You know, he actually talks like Sherlock Holmes when he's behind closed doors in his house. He has an eye patch and a top hat and smokes a pipe," he continued. "But he knows, Willie, that it’s the businesses, the small business owners that you and I know, and Mika knows so well, that own family businesses and own small restaurants and small bars and small shops. They’re the ones who are going to be hurt the most if we reopen the businesses, and then they have to shut down again because Donald Trump still refuses to act in a strong manner on testing. It’s just stupid and shortsighted, and he knows it."
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Kennedy said the Wuhan coronavirus still spread rapidly despite the country-wide shutdown. He called for the reopening of certain areas to be done in a smart manner.
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