Scarborough made Hannity's job easier when he told Colbert that he is officially leaving the GOP.

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“I’m not going to be a Republican anymore,” the “Morning Joe” co-host said. “I’ve got to become an independent.”

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Scarborough isn't ready to call himself a liberal. “I want lower taxes; I want less regulation,” he told Colbert, highlighting traditional Republican principles that he maintains.

Scarborough is, however, forfeiting his status as a top dissenting voice within the president's party. That's a big deal.

Here's an example that illustrates the significance:

On an episode of “Morning Joe” last August, Scarborough interrupted Brzezinski as she slammed congressional Republicans for refusing to reject their presidential nominee.

“Mika, you’re a Democrat,” he said. “Let me say this. Let me say this because it means nothing coming from you. You’re a Democrat.”

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“Excuse me?” Brzezinski replied.

“It means nothing coming from a Democrat to these Republicans,” Scarborough continued. “Let me say this to my Republican Party: You are letting Donald Trump destroy the party.”

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Scarborough won't be able to say things like that anymore.

His decision seems to cede that the Republican Party is now the party of Trump. Only a short time ago, Republicanism and Trumpism seemed like different canons. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Trump said that he skipped last year's gathering because “I was worried that I would be, at that time, too controversial.”

Now, however, Republicanism is Trumpism — for many voters and politicians, anyway.