Joe Scarborough is obsessed with "Rape Island." He climbed up on that hobby horse no fewer than seven times in Morning Joe's opening segment today.
Scarborough's motive, revealed at the end of his spiel, was to claim that President Trump is falling into a trap by asserting that Denmark has no legal right to Greenland other than having landed boats there hundreds of years ago..
Scarborough turned to an unusual source: a New York Post article reporting it appears that there was a treaty in 1917 by which the US recognized Denmark's right to Greenland in return for Denmark granting the US rights to islands in the West Indies that included what eventually became Epstein Island, or "Rape Island," as Scarborough loves calling it.
So, according to Scarborough, questioning Denmark's right to Greenland will inevitably lead to something Trump would like to avoid: mentions of Jeffrey Epstein and the files that the Trump administration has not yet completely released.
Meanwhile, is there a more boorish, big-footing, liberal media TV host than Scarborough? He embarrassed Mika [see screencap] with his multiple mentions of Rape Island, and arrogated to himself Mika's traditional role of introducing the show, inducing head-shaking exasperation from his wife.
And despite inviting co-host Jonathan Lemire to explain the history of the treaty, Scarborough didn't let him get more than a few words out before cutting him off to give his own explanation of the relevant history.
And before letting Lemire (briefly) speak, Scarborough humiliated co-host Willie Geist, forcing him to admit that he hadn't read the New York Post story on the treaty.
There's a more apt term for the likes of Joe Scarborough, but NewsBusters being a family-friendly site, we'll stick with "boor."
Here's the transcript.
MS NOW
Morning Joe
1/21/26
6:00 am ETJOE SCARBOROUGH: There was a deal made! A deal's a deal.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: That's a different deal.
SCARBOROUGH: Greenland for Rape Island, but we'll talk about that in a second. That's what you call a tease.
Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It's Wednesday, January the 21st [Mika shakes her head because it's traditionally her role to introduce the show that way.] Willie, it's so good to have you here. We also have Jon Lemire. Are you aware, Willie? He does work here.
Are you aware, Willie, as Mr. Lemire, have you read Rupert Murdoch's New York Post this morning to understand the history behind the Danish getting Greenland?
WILLIE GEIST: No, I think Jon's going to bring that to us. I'm not familiar.
. . .
SCARBOROUGH: We learn, thanks to the New York Post, that the United States in 1917, Jonathan, recognized the Danish right to Greenland, not because they brought ships there 500 years ago. But tell us exactly why did the United States State Department agree to the Danish controlling Greenland in 1917?
JONATHAN LEMIRE: So, this update comes to us from the investigative journalists at the New York Post, and I posted a story last night, and I'll just read from it. "The last time the United States purchased land from Denmark, the sale included Jeffrey Epstein's future notorious island, known as Epstein Island. It's because of the 1917 ---
SCARBOROUGH: [Interrupts Lemire] Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a second. Hold on a second. Hold on. So you're saying that actually, the Danish have rights to Greenland today in a large part because the United States recognized that right after a part of islands, which contained Jeffrey Epstein's Rape Island, was part of that deal.
. . .SCARBOROUGH: So, Willie, so Willie, it's not because --
MIKA: We're read in now.
SCARBOROUGH: -- of 500 years, cause the Danish sent a boat 500 years ago. It's because in World War I, the United States gave the Danish rights to Greenland for Rape Island [rings a bell.] We can ring the bell. It's official. It's official. Greenland for Rape Island.
MIKA: Ugh!
SCARBOROUGH: Congratulations, our Danish friends.
GEIST: First of all, I didn't know we had an ISO cam on the bell. That's just great work by our team in the control room. Wow, it's there when you need it.
SCARBOROUGH:[Rings bell again] Yeah, get it.GEIST: Fantastic. You know, I think it was called something else at the time. It later became the island that you're describing there.
. . .
SCARBOROUGH: Right. Right. But we are also bringing up the fact that Rape Island --
MIKA: Oh my God!
SCARBOROUGH: -- which was a part of St. Thomas, was part of the deal in 1917.
. . .MIKA: Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham joins us this morning.
SCARBOROUGH: Little known fact: he won the Pulitzer Prize based on that land transfer in 1917.
MIKA: Also had a camera focused, just like on the bell.
SCARBOROUGH: Exactly! I'm still trying to figure out, Willie, though, how did he pull in, how did he pull in the French-Indian War, and Shays' Rebellion into the 1917 transfer --
MIKA: Yes! It's so hot.
SCARBOROUGH: -- of Greenland for St. Thomas and Rape Island. Only Jon Meacham could do that, Willie.. . .
[Trump aides] don't have books at home, I'm sure. But if they just checked the Google machine! The Google machine would say the Danish got the rights to Greenland because in 1917 the United States said, give us the Danish West Indies, which includes Saint Thomas, which includes Rape Island --
MIKA: Oh my --
SCARBOROUGH: -- wasn't called that, of course, until Jeffrey Epstein bought it.
But don't you think there'd be one person there saying, Mr. President, you know, probably be better for you not to say, that because it's going to lead back to the very thing that you're trying to distract the American people and the world from. That, of course, is Jeffrey Epstein. And the fact that the White House and the DoJ continues [sic] to break the law every single day --
MIKA: More than a month now.
SCARBOROUGH: -- for over a month, by not releasing all the files which they are required by law to release, but they only released about 1% of them. Don't you think there would have been one person in the White House that would have checked that out and told the president?
