scared out of one's wits
to be extremely frightened to the point where one cannot think clearly or rationally. The phrase suggests a loss of mental composure due to intense fear, as if one's ability to reason has temporarily ceased.
The core meaning is a state of overwhelming terror. The fear is so intense that it affects one's ability to think straight, react, or make sound decisions. The idiom is a hyperbolic expression, exaggerating the effect of fear on the mind.
'Every Republican should be scared out of wits': Morning Joe warns move will haunt GOP. Republican senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul broke with Trump’s FCC chair over threats against ABC. On Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough warned conservatives against setting precedents they wouldn’t want used against them, reminding: “There’s always this back and forth… power never lasts forever.”
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough provided a history lesson to show why Republicans ought to be "scared out of their wits" by Jimmy Kimmel's suspension.
"Everybody thinks that when they get elected, it's the last election, that they're going to be in power forever," Scarborough said. "I've said this before, I'll say it again. I remember 2004, George W. Bush wins and Karl Rove talks about a permanent Republican majority. Democrats were talking about fearing a permanent Republican majority. Two years later, Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House. Two years later, Barack Obama's elected."
The right-wing Tea Party rose up in response to Obama's election, but he was re-elected two years after Republican gains in the 2010 midterms, and Scarborough pointed back to the 1964 electoral thrashing for Republican Barry Goldwater followed by the rise of Ronald Reagan and the birth of the modern conservative movement.
"There's always this back and forth, there's always this ebb and flow, and by always, I mean always," Scarborough said "So when you see one party doing what the Trump administration is doing, every single Republican should be scared out of their wits because they know they're not going to be in power forever.
"What happens if some left-wing FCC chairperson comes in? Yeah, they'll melt down. Some FCC chairperson comes in, what happens then? Stop setting precedents that are going to be used against you in the future."
