MSNBC host Joe Scarborough appeared on Fox News to dispel perceptions that he is unable to get along with a number of the country's top conservative broadcasting pundits.
On Fox News' "The Kelly File" on Tuesday, Kelly listed a number of conservatives she said Scarborough doesn't get along with, including Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck. She asked Scarborough, "How can you be a true conservative if you're at war with so many conservative icons?"
"Well first of all, I'm not at war. As you know, I'm a uniter not a divider," Scarborough said.
Story continues below video.
"The most important thing is that we move forward with conservative ideas. There's no doubt I've upset a lot of people because I was against the Republican establishment," said Scarborough, a former GOP congressman from Florida who served in the House from 1995 to 2001.
"When I left Congress we had a balanced budget. Eight years later, nine years later, Republicans kept their mouths shut. They saluted because they were in power at the White House … the fact of the matter is we doubled the national debt."
Kelly accused him of sidestepping the issue by focusing on policy instead of addressing the perception among conservatives that he is a RINO, or Republican in Name Only.
"You keep saying that. I don't hear that. I've been to New Hampshire. I've been South Carolina," said Scarborough, referring to
recent speeches he's made in a number of early primary states.
"You look at my record and that's the great thing about being on TV, being in Congress, I've been consistent. I've been a small government conservative for a very long time."
Scarborough's appearance on Fox was part of a promotional tour for a book he released in November entitled "The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics — and Can Again."
Scarborough dismissed the suggestion that he had any plans to make a bid for the White House in 2016.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.