“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough said Wednesday that Glenn Beck was a “nobody” before Fox News asked him to join the network.
Scarborough said that Roger Ailes, the head of Fox News, is responsible for Beck’s career success.
“I don’t watch Glenn Beck…Glenn Beck was a nobody, and I will say it loud and clear on TV, he was a nobody at Headline News, a nobody, and then Roger Ailes took him under his wings and suddenly he became a superstar,” Scarborough said in an episode of “Morning Joe” that aired Wednesday.
Scarborough added that Beck couldn’t hold his own outside of the Fox News network.
“If Roger Ailes decides to kick him out of Fox News, well, he’ll go back to the Glenn Beck he was before,” he said.
Reacting to the notion that Beck may have played some role in 22-year-old Jared Loughner’s decision to go on a shooting rampage in Tucson, Scarborough said Beck “stirs up hate and division” and “feeds on people’s paranoia.” Scarborough joins many pundits that have said harsh political rhetoric likely had some influence on Saturday’s massacre.
Upon barking “turn the music down” at what appeared to be music leading up to a timed commercial break, Scarborough said, “if [Beck feeds] that vile message to Americas everyday, it’s going to have an impact. I’m not saying people are going to get shot, but it is going to have a corrosive effect on our culture and on our politics.”
WATCH: Joe Scarborough on Glenn Beck