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The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe: Friday edition 0%
By Joe Scarborough0%
4/17/2026, 6:00:39 PM
Keywords: Morning Joe, Newsletter, Joe Scarborough, Peggy Noonan, Trump, Pope, Elections, Immigration, Iran
BS Summary: This article contains 35 faulty reasoning types, including Attempt to Sell a Product or Service, Appeal to Emotion, and Biased Writer Voice, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 43% saturation with 538 hits. Analysis detected 2,962 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,250 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 0% and a BS Rank of 0% (0 of 16,813 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 100.00% of the article peer group.
This is the April 17, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter.
Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox every Monday through Friday.
Today’s must-read comes from The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan, who writes this:
What is going on with this administration and its use and abuse of Christianity?
Shouldn’t the great churches of America be thinking about this, and at this point talking about it publicly, thoughtfully?
If you really believe in Christ, as a Christian preacher should, you wouldn’t compare him to any leader of this world.
That wasn’t an act of misdirected reverence but a refusal of reverence.
To the extent anyone ever wins these fights, the pope will.
He has a better sponsor, and better writers.
Peggy ends today’s column with a bold proclamation that may go down as my favorite quote of the year so far:
A hick picks a fight with a pope.
On the calendar
The Boston Red Sox host the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park all weekend.
For those of you with other hobbies, here’s what else is happening around the country:
Eat to your heart’s content across New York City’s Manhattan and Brooklyn boroughs at Smorgasburg, officially open for its 2026 season.
America’s largest open-air food market is back — and every craving is fair game.
In the nation’s capital, Filmfest DC returns for its 40th year, featuring more than 3,600 films from over 140 countries.
Want to get a taste before you kick back with the popcorn?
Check out trailers and showtimes.
Grab your lab coats: The monthlong North Carolina Science Festival continues this weekend across the state.
No homemade volcanoes required — just show up for sci-fi-themed escape rooms, chemistry-centered cooking lessons, night hikes, and more.
Music festivals are in full bloom this weekend: Atlanta hosts SweetWater 420 Fest, where progressive rock, funk, electronic, and contemporary acts converge for a full weekend of sound.
Expect craft beer, big crowds, and a lineup that delivers.
In the Lone Star State, it’s all love at the Austin Reggae Festival.
Bob Marley’s son Stephen headlines, alongside Original Koffee and Steel Pulse.
And the good karma extends off the stage: All proceeds benefit the Austin Food Bank.
And out west, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books takes over the USC campus this weekend.
Browse your favorite booksellers, hunt for secondhand gems, and meet authors in person.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Lionel Richie are both on the program — because in Los Angeles, even the literary festival needs a little star power.
Now, let’s answer your questions.
MAILBAG
Thank you again to all our readers who wrote in this week.
As always, you’re welcome to write to us any time.
After the disgusting “Jesus” post by Trump, every Christian should be offended by that.
And the way he’s talking about our pope should be a complete NO for all Catholics!
Also, the explanation that he says he thought it portrayed him as a “doctor?”
DOES HE THINK WE ARE ALL STUPID???
— Annette S., Downers Grove, Ill.
He does not think “we” are all stupid, but he believes many of his followers are that dumb.
The fact that he thought anyone would mistake his Jesus garb for Doogie Howser’s may have been a new low for his insulting of MAGA followers.
All of his supporters will not blindly follow him off this blasphemous cliff.
The Peggy Noonan column above reflects much of what I have been hearing from devout Catholics since Easter.
Many steadfast supporters of Donald Trump are disturbed by his blasphemy.
Perhaps the president can shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it, as he said, but he may not be able to be the first president in our republic’s history to wage war with the Vicar of Christ and survive unscathed.
I suspect MAGA’s idol worship of this politician even has its limits among those who have actually read the Gospels.
Midterm elections perhaps will be in dire straits as Trump is determined to disrupt them the best way he can.
Not to sound naive, but do you think the Republican Party will do anything about this authoritarian leadership or just cower in the corner?
— Bruce M., New Brunswick, Canada
Though cowering in the corner seems to be the favorite pastime of most Republican members of Congress, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson have already come out against Trump’s plans to nationalize the election.
Apparently there are lines that even Mike Johnson will not cross.
The bigger political question now is whether Democrats will stand up to Trump’s efforts to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling locations this fall.
One condition that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has laid down for the funding of the Department of Homeland Security has been the banning of such Election Day deployments meant to intimidate lawful voters.
This is the agency, after all, that gunned down two Americans in the streets of Minneapolis.
On this point, Democrats must stand firm.
Fair and free elections this fall depend on it.
If a blockade is considered an act of war under international law, why haven’t the Democrats in Congress filed a lawsuit to assert that only Congress, which has the power to declare war, prevents the president from legally imposing a blockade?
— Jeff S., Sedona, Ariz.
Democrats continue trying to force votes to authorize Donald Trump’s war with Iran.
So far, Republicans keep shirking their constitutional duty to authorize his military actions.
While lawsuits are being filed to challenge the Iran war, I suspect the very blockade you write of may bring Iranians back to the negotiating table in an attempt to end this war.
Only time will tell.
What we know today is that Article 1 powers have been sacrificed by the GOP majority to placate a man who spends his days finding new ways to violate constitutional norms.
America deserves better.
While there are so many illegal, dishonest, cruel issues worth discussing, I think we need more time on immigration.
Why do they think we need so many detention (i.e., Nazi concentration camp) facilities?
We need legislation that bans the outrageous repurposing of warehouses.
I understand that only 7% of immigrants being detained are criminals.
The rest are children, grandmothers, tourists from other countries, etc.
This administration has such a simpleminded goal to produce “numbers” of people they lock up and/or detain.
Forget about common decency.
Where are their basic rights?
What happened to due process?
— Margie P., Alexandria, Va.
The late conservative legend and Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia once said constitutional rights apply to American citizens, any person who is currently in the United States, and all Americans regardless of where they are around the globe.
All are protected by the constitutional guarantees passed down through the generations by our founding fathers.
Unfortunately, the president of the United States has proven time and again that he is no conservative.
He ignores Scalia’s clear reading of the Constitution and mocks the memory of Ronald Reagan, whose farewell address to the nation declared that it is immigrants who keep America young, powerful, and strong.
ONE MORE SHOT
U.S.
Commission for Fine Arts
A rendering of Donald Trump’s proposed Triumphal Arch.
The design moved forward yesterday after a key committee’s review and 1,000 public comments — almost all of which were against the project.
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Analysis
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