Joe Scarborough Explains What Trump Is Really Doing With His Racist Coronavirus Rhetoric

Joe Scarborough, the co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” on Thursday warned people not to let President Donald Trump distract them with his xenophobic description of the coronavirus.

Trump has repeatedly used the racist term “Chinese Virus” in recent days, and defended his language at a news conference Wednesday. World Health Organization guidelines caution leaders not to give geographic labels to diseases to avoid stigmatization.

Scarborough acknowledged Trump’s term is “offensive” but warned “liberals and progressives and people in the media” that the president was “poking at you.”

“He wants you to become outraged so you will talk about that instead of talking about tests, so you’ll talk about that instead of talking about ventilators,” Scarborough continued.

“It’s called a rabbit trail,” he added. “Yes, it is offensive but, again, we can talk about this in November when the election is in full force. But this is all a distraction.”