Indiana Gov. Mike Pence last week endorsed Donald Trump more than he did Ted Cruz, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said Monday, and he would have rejected it had he been in the Texas senator's place.
"If somebody endorsed me that way, I would go on the radio the next hour and say, he can take his blanking endorsement back," the
"Morning Joe" host said on his program. "That was no endorsement."
Pence announced his
endorsement on Friday, following weeks of saying that he was not going to endorse a candidate until after a nominee was named.
He started out the endorsement by saying that he wanted to "commend Donald Trump who I think has given voice to the frustration of millions of working Americans, with a lack of progress in Washington, D.C.
"And I'm also particularly grateful that Donald Trump has taken a strong stand for Hoosier jobs, when we saw jobs in the carrier company abruptly announce leaving Indiana, not for another state, but for Mexico. I'm grateful. I've come to my decision about who I'm supporting, and I'm not against anybody. But I will be voting for Ted Cruz."
Trump told Fox News Sunday that he thought Pence "gave me more of an endorsement than he gave Cruz," and that the nod was "the weakest endorsement anyone has seen," and Scarborough agreed.
"What you're starting to see here is the real fear factor seep in," said Scarborough. "A couple months ago, even a month ago, everybody felt like they could be snotty to Donald Trump without any retribution, because they were sure he wasn't going to win."
However, he continued, Pence was "frozen" because his supporters and backers are saying he has to endorse Cruz, "yet, he's so scared of Donald Trump, he's doing backflips.You're seeing [Marco] Rubio, trashing him a month ago, now saying he's going to get onboard. And it is, it's fear. They're afraid they're going to be left behind."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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