MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on Tuesday ripped critics of the media coverage that hyped special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE's Russia investigation, with the "Morning Joe" co-host calling them "corrupt" and saying they are "sucking up to Donald Trump."

Scarborough, a former GOP congressman from Florida who has become a critic of President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE, defended reporters as "just doing their jobs" in pursuing all leads in the Russian collusion story.

"Save your breath, we’re not going to divert our eyes," Scarborough said. "This president lies more than any other president in the United States ... Damn the torpedos, full steam ahead, follow the story where it leads us."

The defense comes as the media is under substantial criticism for its heavy focus on the Russia investigation and speculation around collusion as it pertains to President Trump, Trump campaign officials and the Russians.

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Scarborough cited a Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 between Donald Trump Jr. Don John Trump'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic requests pardon from Trump: 'Be my hero please' Zaid Jilani discusses Trump's move to cancel racial sensitivity training at federal agencies Trump International Hotel in Vancouver closes permanently MORE and Russians tied to the Kremlin as an example of possible wrongdoing.

"I just ask, what was the media supposed to do at that point? Shrug it off? No. You know the answer," Scarborough said.

"And just because you’re sucking up to Donald Trump and just because power is all that matters to you, and just because you will justify everything that man does and just because you are corrupt, just because you’re not a journalist, just because you have sold your soul to a personality cult, don’t knock reporters at The New York Times or The Washington Post or The Wall Street Journal or the broadcast networks for doing their job right," he added.

The retort comes as a recent CNN poll found that the Russia investigation does not register on the list of important issues for voters in the 2020 election.

A recent CNN poll asked respondents to describe one issue that would be the most important to them for their 2020 vote.



The Russia investigation didn't register in the results, getting 0 percent, according to @ForecasterEnten. https://t.co/9hceiqvBud pic.twitter.com/OuSCOVqVUc — New Day (@NewDay) March 26, 2019

Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski have been staunch critics of Trump since the then-candidate stopped appearing on "Morning Joe" after appearing on a regular basis during the GOP primaries.

The hosts have accused Trump of suffering "early onset dementia" dating back to last year. The president has responded in kind, albeit not in recent months, by calling Scarborough "Psycho Joe" and Brzezinski "Low I.Q. Mika."