MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough issued an angry rant against the media Thursday morning, arguing that reporters are taking one “little phrase” from Donald Trump and having a “freak out” over something that Democrats have been complaining about ever since President George W. Bush beat Al Gore in 2000.

On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Mr. Scarborough pointed out a double standard in the media after reporters pounced on the Republican presidential nominee’s statement during the final debate that he may or may not respect the election results.

Mr. Scarborough said it’s just another example “of the media having to find a little phrase and freak out.”

“When as a Republican I have listened to Democrats talk about the only two times we won the White House in like 800 years that we stole both elections,” the host said. “I had to sit through ‘Fahrenheit 911’ and a lady was sobbing violently behind me on the Upper West Side about the election being stolen from George Bush and I patted her halfway through. I go, ‘It’s all right, it’s all right, ma’am. It’s all right. It’s all a lie anyway.’ Democrats have been whining for 16 years, they are still writing articles about how Bush stole the elections in 2000 and 2004. So this holier-than-thou attitude about, ‘This is the first time anyone has suggested that the election is not a sacrosanct process,’ it’s a joke. So you guys bathe in that hypocrisy if you want to — I’d just like to hear how the debate went. Go ahead, bathe.

“My target this morning for my mockery are the very people that are writing articles today on their blogs that are saying, ‘This is a threat to democracy, the electoral process in America is sacrosanct, and if we ever doubt this, are we no better than Putin?’ I mean, those are the people I’m mocking. I’m not comparing him to Al Gore. I’m not comparing him to John Kerry,” he added.

“It relates to the hypocrisy that Democrats forget everything that they’ve been saying on their blogs, in their newspapers, in their magazines over the past 16 years,” Mr. Scarborough said. “I’m not even mad about it. It’s very funny, and here’s the great thing: It’s all on Google. I ask you to do what Hillary Clinton asked last night. Just Google all of this and you will see that Democrats, who are shocked and stunned and deeply saddened this morning, were the very ones — hell, even Bernie Sanders supporters just six months ago were saying that Hillary Clinton was rigging the election. I mean, seriously, did you all bump your head, or do you just think we’re that stupid?”

Asked during Wednesday night’s debate whether he would respect the results of the election, Mr. Trump said he would have to “look at it” when the time comes. His opponent, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, called that prospect “horrifying” and said he was “talking down our democracy.”