'Is this a joke?' Morning Joe rages at GOP for hurting vets because midterms look 'bleak'

Conservative "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough on MS NOW on March 19, 2026 (image via screengrab)

President Donald Trump is aggressively pushing for the U.S. Senate to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act), threatening that he won't sign any more bills until Republicans in Congress get the voting bill onto his desk for signature. If the SAVE Act became law, it would demand proof of U.S. citizenship as a requirement for voting. And a regular driver's license wouldn't be sufficient proof; another form of ID such as a U.S. passport or a birth certificate would also be needed.

Critics of the bill, both left and right, consider it unreasonable — pointing out that many Americans don't own passports or have copies of their birth certificates.

One of those critics on the right is MS NOW host Joe Scarborough. During a Thursday, March 19 rant on "Morning Joe," the Never Trump conservative argued that the SAVE Act doesn't make Trump's agenda any less unpopular. And he cited veterans as one of the groups that will be hurt by it.

"It's absolutely outrageous," Scarborough told fellow "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski. "The requirements are outrageous. They're trying to kill the ability for vets who may have been injured in war and may not be able to go to not be able to vote by mail. They're trying to do everything they can do to stop older Americans who may not be able to go down on Election Day because of the physical problems…. Workers who travel. I can't tell you how many times I was traveling on business on election days, just like millions and millions and millions of Americans do on Election Day. And they're trying to get everybody to re-register?

Scarborough continued, "Is this a joke? Is this a joke that 51 senators actually supported to debate? Are you kidding? Like, it's a horrible idea. Conservatives like me — and I know there aren't many left who are small government conservatives….. Conservatives like me don't like poll taxes."

The conservative host stressed that the 2026 midterms are looking increasingly "bleak" for Republicans.

Scarborough told Brzezinski, "They know that they're historically behind in the polls. They know if voters are allowed to freely vote, Republicans are going to lose. They know that. And they know it big. You know when you're going to get wiped out…. It's that bleak for Republicans. They don't want to change their policies; they want to change the law. They want to stop you from voting. They want to stop men and women in the military from voting. They want to stop the elderly from voting…. The SAVE America Act wouldn't turn blue states red."

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