Conservative News Site Slams Trump's 'Vile Slander,' Questions His Fitness To Lead

A Washington Examiner editorial condemned the president for spewing conspiracy theories about Joe Scarborough when he should be leading the nation through a crisis.
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The Washington Examiner published an editorial on Wednesday condemning President Donald Trump’s “vile slander” of MSNBC host Joe Scarborough and raising questions about his fitness for office.

In the column, titled “Trump’s slanderous attack on Joe Scarborough is incompatible with leadership,” the conservative news outlet categorically breaks down why Trump’s claims against Scarborough, an outspoken Trump critic, are false.

Over the weekend, as the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic climbed toward 100,000 in the U.S., the president spent time tweeting multiple suggestions that Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, murdered a staffer who died in his Florida office in 2001. Lori Klausutis’ death was ruled an accident by authorities; no foul play was suspected.

“This story is not just false, but verifiably so. It is also illogical and bizarre,” the editorial states.

The site criticized the “loathsome individuals” who amplified the conspiracy theory “as part of a bad-faith, cheap-shot ad hominem argument against Scarborough,” adding that it was “far, far more unfortunate that the latest person to trumpet and repeat this vile slander is the president supposedly leading this nation through a time of crisis.”

The right-wing site, which is often friendly to Trump, also blasted the president in March for demonstrating how “deeply unsuited he is to deal with a genuine crisis that he can’t bluff his way through” in his handling of the pandemic.

“Whatever his issues with Scarborough, President Trump’s crazed Twitter rant on this subject was vile and unworthy of his office,” this week’s editorial said. “Some will undoubtedly shrug it off as Trump being Trump, but one could hardly be blamed for reading it and doubting his fitness to lead.”

The site is one of several conservative voices to speak out against Trump’s grotesque tweets, which are widely perceived to be an effort to distract the public from his administration’s fumbling response to the coronavirus outbreak that has now claimed more than 100,000 lives.

Read the editorial here.

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