Joe Scarborough Slams WHCA Dinner Security as 'Extraordinarily Stupid' After Armed Intrusion

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough condemned the security measures at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner as “extraordinarily stupid” following an armed gunman’s interruption of the event.

“It just seems extraordinarily stupid to use an open hotel and get State of the Union-type concentration of power in the United States, especially at a time of war against a country that’s been the epicenter of terrorism since 1979,” Scarborough said on Monday morning. “[To] have them walking around, going in and out of parties, standing to get their pictures taken before they go in, it’s never made sense to me. It’s never made sense to [co-host] Mika [Brzezinski].”

Hilton Hotel Tradition vs. Security Risks

This year’s WHCA dinner was held at the Hilton hotel in Washington, D.C., a longstanding tradition. While Scarborough acknowledged the historical precedent, he insisted the venue must change to address glaring security flaws.

“It’s always been that way, but just because it’s always been that way doesn’t mean it needs to be that way ever again,” he argued. “Anybody that has been there understands. You aren’t securing the entire hotel. You’re not checking people’s bags. You’re not doing the basic things that would be done like at the State of the Union address.”

“I just can’t think of a dumber place to have this than at the Washington Hilton. I know it’s history, but history be damned when you’re putting your Secretary of Defense, you’re putting your FBI Director, you’re putting the Secretary of Treasury, you’re putting the Vice President, you’re putting the President [all in one place].”

MAGA Figures Exploit Shooting to Push Trump’s Ballroom Project

Scarborough also criticized MAGA-aligned figures for immediately using the shooting to promote former President Donald Trump’s proposed White House Ballroom, a widely derided project currently under construction.

“How crazy that, like, everybody in MAGA-sphere all, like, within three seconds started posting the same post, right? That was so coordinated about the ballroom,” Scarborough observed. “This event ... will never be held in the White House because it is not about the White House. It is about the correspondents!”

Watch the full ‘Morning Joe’ segment here.