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Joe Scarborough blasts those who taunted President Trump at World Series with 'lock him up!' chant. Social media takes him to the woodshed — but he doesn't back down.
Photo by Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Joe Scarborough blasts those who taunted President Trump at World Series with 'lock him up!' chant. Social media takes him to the woodshed — but he doesn't back down.

Egg on everyone's face

The internet had a field day after MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said Americans shouldn't chant "lock him up" at President Donald Trump.

On Sunday night, many fans at the World Series game in Washington, D.C., responded to the president's presence at the game by loudly booing and chanting "lock him up!" The phrase was popularized at Trump 2016 campaign rallies in reference to former Secretary of State and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

What are the details?

On Monday's episode of "Morning Joe," Scarborough admonished game attendees who reacted negatively to the president's presence at Sunday night's game.

"I speak to the 'lock him up' chats," Scarborough said. "It's un-American. It started with Donald Trump. In fact, he's made it the centerpiece of his campaign rallies."

"Sickening," he added. "We are Americans. And we do not do that. We do not want the world hearing us chant 'lock him up' to this president or to any president. Let's hope as we move forward maybe this is one less fascist tactic he and his supporters use during chants. You're going to actually imprison your political opponent."

What else?

Hashtag #SorryJoe began trending on Twitter following Scarborough's remarks.

At the time of this writing, there have been more than 10,000 tweets using the viral hashtag, which has mainly been used to blast the MSNBC co-host for his defense against the "Lock him up" chant.

TV writer David Simon, one of the more prolific social media users, issued a pointed response to Scarborough's remarks.

He wrote, "The misrule, cruelty and infantilism of this administration is such that some sense of enduring ethos is actually redeemed when we the people openly express our contempt. Dissent is the most American thing there is — and to get clean we need as much as there is on display."

Twitter user Greg Morelli, one of the top tweets in the #SorryJoe thread, said that Scarborough doesn't "get to put democracy in a time out."

"Sorry Joe, you don't get to put democracy in a time out. Sorry Joe, it feels like you want the rest of us to forget that you played an instrumental role in getting Trump elected & now you want to play revolutionary with the coiffed hair. Sorry Joe, we remember," he wrote.

Twitter user "Hillary Won" added, "Sorry Joe, but what we do not tolerate in the US are wannabe dictators. This was the most American thing ever, booing a corrupt President who stole the office with the help of a foreign adversary. And at the quintessential American past time. I thought it was wonderful!"

CNN analyst Asha Rangappa chimed in, pointing out that Trump is wrong for chanting "lock her up" with regard to Clinton, and that he is simply reaping what he sows.

"Um, no. A President who *leads* a 'lock her up' chant against his political enemies smacks of authoritarianism," she wrote. "Americans who chant 'lock him up' to a President who acts like a tyrant and believes he is above the law is calling for accountability."

Anything else?

Scarborough took issue with the internet dragging him and doubled down on his original comments via Twitter.

In a lengthy thread, the he wrote, "So let's see if I've got this straight: When crowds chant 'Lock her up' toward Hillary, it is illiberal and anti-American. (I agree). But when crowds chant the same toward Trump, it is suddenly a fulsome exercise of sacred First Amendment rights. What hypocritical clowns."

He continued, insisting that people who believe this line of thinking are as "ignorant" and as "illiberal" as the president himself.

"If you think that democracy is strengthened by calling for the arrest of political opponents, you're as ignorant and illiberal as Trump himself," Scarborough blasted. "Delete your account and read some civics. Stop embarrassing yourself."

He concluded by pointing out that no one should call for the arrest of political opponents.

"Republicans, look at the response to a very traditional view that in America, we do not call for the arrest of political opponents. And then understand that you reap what you sow," he wrote. "A republic if you can keep it. Seacrest Out."

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