Right-wing freakout exposes GOP’s insidious contempt for their own voters

The latest ridiculous freakout from President Donald Trump and his MAGA followers has once again exposed just how "stupid" they think their voters are, according to the hosts of MS NOW's Morning Joe.

Earlier this week, at a midterm rally in Ohio, former President Barack Obama took a brief aside to mock the overly gold renovations that Trump has done to the White House, and the Oval Office in particular, calling it out with a pointed comedic jab.

"What's with all the gold? He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened up a Cheesecake Factory," Obama said.

Certain right-wing pundits attempted to spin that remark as Obama making fun of the Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain, arguing that it exposed him as snobbish and out-of-touch with everyday Americans. Other observers countered these criticisms, pointing out that the reference to the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was the actual point of the punchline. Trump himself appeared rattled by the remarks during his own rally appearance, defending his ability to renovate buildings "very good, [and] very beautifully."

During the Tuesday morning broadcast of Morning Joe, co-host and former congressman Joe Scarborough went off on Trump and the other MAGA acolytes for their attacks on Obama's remarks, arguing that it shows how much contempt they have for the intelligence of their voters.

"The factthat they take a very funny Barack Obama joke and go, 'Oh,the guy whose middle name isHussein has stepped into it,'" Scarborough said. "Wecan now say he's un-Americanfor making fun — no, not makingfun of The Cheesecake Factory,making fun of all the fake gold that Donald Trump hasslathered all around the White House. So it's again, time and time again, they think theirviewers are so stupid thatthey're not going to be able toconnect things... 'They closed the rural hospitals, my trucking company's out of business, but he made a joke about Donald Trump that had the words "Cheesecake Factory" in it. I'm voting for the Republicans.'Like, do they really thinkpeople are that stupid?"

"Well, it's the desperation," co-host Willie Geist said."As onehost said yesterday on Fox News,this is the deplorables moment,just like [with] Hillary [Clinton]. This is it. Again, as Joejust said, no, it wasn't a jokeabout The Cheesecake Factory.It was a joke about Donald Trump's supergluing pieces ofcheap gold all over the White House and making it look ascheap as it does. The otherpart of this is, do they reallywant to have a contrast aboutwho the elitist is? If we'recomparing Barack Obama to Donald Trump, the guy who isbuilding a ballroom bigger thanthe white house, the guy whowants to build an arch, whowants to take over the Kennedy Center, the guy who lives in acastle by the sea, the guy whomade [$2.3] billion since hetook over[.] Do youreally want to have thatconversation here?"