Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro’s controversial decision to release the names and information of dozens of President Trump’s donors has the full support of MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough.
The “Morning Joe” host says “dumb DC Trumpists” are upset over the 44 Trump donors — including retirees — from the San Antonio area who were put on Twitter blast by Mr. Castro on Tuesday.
“Sad to see so many San Antonians as 2019 maximum donors to Donald Trump — the owner of @BillMillerBarBQ, owner of the @HistoricPearl, realtor Phyllis Browning, etc.,” Mr. Castro’s campaign account tweeted. “Their contributions are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as ’invaders.’”
A list of dozens of other individuals were attached to the tweet.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican, who was shot in 2017 by a former volunteer for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, was among those who criticized the decision.
“People should not be personally targeted for their political views. Period. This isn’t a game. It’s dangerous, and lives are at stake. I know this firsthand,” Mr. Scalise tweeted.
Still, Mr. Scarborough said there is nothing wrong with politically weaponizing the public information of citizens.
“Any business that donates to Trump is complicit and endorses the white supremacy he espoused in Charlottesville, with his ’send her back’ chants, and by laughing at shouts that Hispanic immigrants should be shot,” the MSNBC host said in a series of tweets. “Donors’ names are on FEC reports. They are newsworthy.”
“If your business funds Trump’ s campaign, then you are supporting white supremacy. Full stop,” he continued. “Democrats, if you are cowed by Trump’s BS re: being transparent about public records listing supporters of Trump’s hateful policies, then you are too stupid to be in power. … To donors of Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and other Democrats, would you be proud or embarrassed to have people know of your support? (Of course, it’s already public bc of FEC laws, but dumb DC Trumpists are acting like the info is the stuff of spy novels.)”
Allahpundit of conservative blog Hotair, who is often critical of Mr. Trump, rejected Mr. Scarborough’s position.
“If a friend asked you to find out for him where his ex lives because he intends to stalk her, it’d be no defense to say ’it’s public information’ if you used a people-finder database to locate her for him,” he wrote Wednesday. “You had every reason to know how the information would be abused and you provided it anyway. Same goes for Castro. (Castro’s actually worse since he’s supplying the information unbidden, essentially inviting the stalking.) Nor is it a defense to say that Castro merely wants to see boycotts of pro-Trump business owners, not personal harassment. That’s not true. If it were, the list he published wouldn’t have included retirees, who were listed as such. He wants people targeted at home.”
To donors of Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and other Democrats, would you be proud or embarrassed to have people know of your support?
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) August 7, 2019
(Of course, it’s already public bc of FEC laws, but dumb DC Trumpists are acting like the info is the stuff of spy novels.)
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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