MSNBC host Joe Scarborough's story of asking Donald Trump to his face if he could read sounded different this week than it did in 2015 when he told it to columnist Peggy Noonan.
While Scarborough recounted the story jovially in 2015 and complimented Trump's "gut instinct and strength," he told it with a more sinister vibe with different details in 2018.
Scarborough penned an op-ed for the Washington Post this week recounting the time he spoke with Trump after the second Republican presidential debate in September of 2015 and quizzed on him on whether he read:
Mika Brzezinski and I had a tense meeting with Trump following what I considered to be a bumbling debate performance in September 2015. I asked the candidate a blunt question.
"Can you read?"
Awkward silence.
"I’m serious, Donald. Do you read?" I continued. "If someone wrote you a one-page paper on a policy, could you read it?"
Taken aback, Trump quietly responded that he could while holding up a Bible given to him by his mother. He then joked that he read it all the time.
Scarborough went on to make it fit with the depiction of Trump in Michael Wolff's explosive new book Fire and Fury: Inside Trump's White House. Wolff describes a ramshackle White House, with Trump its "semiliterate" leader considered a child by his top aides.
Scarborough repeated the story on "Morning Joe" on Thursday, again calling it a "tense meeting," adding Trump stared blankly back at him before holding up his Bible and replying "of course I read."
Scarborough told the story of his "can you read?" convo w/ Trump two years ago--only much more favorably toward Trump, who, Scarborough said at the time, doesn't really need to read since he has "gut instinct and strength." https://t.co/VtEJyvDmuZ
— Jason Zengerle (@zengerle) January 5, 2018
Back in December of 2015, Trump was in the midst of his astonishing bid for the GOP nomination, and Scarborough's attitude toward the billionaire businessman was far different.
In a discussion with Noonan at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Scarborough struck a more jovial tone about their encounter that had occurred roughly three months earlier.
"After the second debate, Peggy, I walked into his office. I said, 'Donald, do you know how to read?' And he stared at me, and he said, 'What do you mean?'" Scarborough said, smiling. "Mika [Brzezinski] got very nervous and was like, 'Yeah, Joe, what do you mean?' I said, 'Can you actually read?' And he said, 'Yes...why?' I said, 'You should read before a debate!'"
Still smiling, Scarborough said Trump told him, "I don't have to."
Asked by Noonan to explain what he meant, Scarborough said he meant Trump should read a paragraph on Syria or a paragraph on education reform so he would be better informed before future debates.
"But what Donald Trump brings is gut instinct and strength, and I don't know, Peggy, I guess Republicans are so tired of losing on the presidential level, they want strength," Scarborough said.
During the primary, Scarborough and Brzezinski frequently battled criticism that they were too friendly in their coverage of Trump. At one point, Trump referred to them as "supporters" during an interview, quickly clarifying he meant "believers."
Scarborough and Brzezinski were bullish on Trump's chances to win the Republican nomination before many others in the mainstream media.
Scarborough has always maintained he held Trump to account, and he and Brzezinski have often spoken of Trump being a different person in the White House than the one they knew before he officially entered politics.
Now, they are among his fiercest critics in the media, even questioning his mental fitness for office.
The Free Beacon reached out to Scarborough for comment and will update if it hears back.