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Scarborough Goes on Rant About GOP: 'My Party Is Going Straight to Hell'

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough went on a rant about the state of Republicans on Friday, calling them liars and saying they are "going straight to hell politically" over their embrace of Donald Trump.

Raising his voice, the former GOP congressman shouted that Republicans should not "lie through their teeth every day."

"My party is going straight to hell politically," he said. "They really are. They're going straight to hell. They have embraced the coarsening of culture where the truth means absolutely nothing, conservative values mean absolutely nothing."

After "Morning Joe" played a Thursday clip of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and White House budget director Mick Mulvaney having a fierce exchange on Capitol Hill, Scarborough repeatedly said Mulvaney was lying about saying Medicaid does not get cut in the president's proposed budget.

"Did he say we don't cut Medicaid? That is just a lie," Scarborough said. "That is a certifiable lie."

According to the Associated Press, Medicaid spending would increase $4.7 trillion over the next decade but would be cut "as a proportion of the economy."

Scarborough held up a series of newspapers and said it could not be called "fake news," telling Republicans to "stop lying" about cutting $850 billion in Medicaid spending "for the poorest of the poor."

"If you want to do it, embrace it. Don't lie about it," Scarborough said. "Stop lying about it. We know you're lying about it. We're not stupid, and you Republicans in the House have been lying non-stop about what you're not going to cut."

Scarborough said Trump had led a coarsening of political culture and Republicans felt they could get away with deceit if Trump did.

"You can't," he said. "This is like Bill Clinton ... He was an unusually good liar. Bill Clinton somehow survived being a liar and lying every day. Hillary couldn't. You can't!"

Republicans would embrace Vladimir Putin and Russia if Trump did, Scarborough added.

"Why do you sell your soul? And not just your political soul. You were selling your soul if you just keep lying about things that you know are not true," Scarborough said.

He reminded viewers that Trump was a Democrat for much of his life before joining the GOP again.

While Scarborough said throughout the primary that he would not vote for Trump, he was memorably friendly toward the president when he ran, and he and co-host Mika Brzezinski frequently defended their on-air demeanors toward Trump. They also often reminded viewers that they were among the first to predict he would be a force to be reckoned with in the GOP primary.

UPDATE: 7:09 A.M.: This article was updated to show Scarborough insisted he would not vote for Trump during the primary.