MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough interrupted his colleague Willie Geist’s tough questioning of Donald Trump Wednesday on Morning Joe to tell the presumptive Republican nominee that his brother loves him and is thrilled with Trump’s win in the Indian primary Tuesday night.
Geist was in the middle of asking Trump specific policy questions to see if the real estate mogul will change some of his controversial stances for the general election when Scarborough, who Trump has called a "supporter" along with Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, stopped the questioning to say that his brother, George, is excited with Trump’s success.
Geist first said to Trump that "a lot of people think you’ve said some things to win votes in a Republican primary that maybe you actually don’t believe and could change as you go to a general," before asking, "Do you still believe that Muslims should be banned from entering the country until we can figure out what’s going on, as you’ve said?"
Trump stood by his proposal from December to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, arguing that the country needs to be vigilant and "find out what the hell is going on." He promised to make it an issue during the general election, adding he is not sure if that will hurt him politically but does not care because it is the right course of action to protect America.
"We’re allowing thousands of people to come into our country, thousands and thousands of people being placed all over the country that, frankly, nobody knows who they are," Trump said, adding that the current migrant crisis from the Middle East to Europe is "destroying" the continent.
Geist then asked if Trump still stands by his statement from March that women who get abortions should be punished.
"Of course not," Trump said, arguing that at the time he was asked a hypothetical question and gave a theoretical answer. The real estate mogul added, though, that his response was "an unbelievable academic answer."
Trump came out after his initial abortion comment to say that he would hold the doctor accountable for an abortion and not the woman after pro-life activists lambasted the real estate mogul for misrepresenting and misunderstanding their beliefs. The pro-life movement has long held that women who get abortions should receive support rather than punishment and any consequences should be levied on the doctor who carried out the procedure.
While Trump was answering the abortion question, Scarborough cut into the conversation to tell Trump about his brother.
"So, Donald, there are two family members around this set that are very happy this morning," Scarborough began. "My brother is extraordinarily happy—"
"He’s a great guy by the way," Trump interjected.
"George brutalized me for nine months whenever I criticized you, and Nicolle actually had to stop going home for awhile," Scarborough said, referring to NBC commentator Nicolle Wallace.
Scarborough and Wallace both laughed, and the latter then asked Trump how he will be able to win over Democrats and women to vote for him, pivoting away from policy questions.
"Well, Nicolle, first of all, thank you and say hello to your parents, and I really appreciate them," Trump said before answering.
"You just made their day," Wallace said with a big smile on her face.
Morning Joe has made a concerted effort to continuously tout how they predicted early in the election process that Trump may be a factor of some kind in the Republican primary.