Joe Scarborough

Scarborough Suggests Hugh Hewitt Has 'Tingle Up the Leg' for Rubio
By Mark Finkelstein | October 16, 2015 | 8:37 AM EDT

Joe Scarborough swung a double-edged sword on today's Morning Joe, swiping simultaneously at his MSNBC colleague Chris Matthews and at radio host and debate panelist Hugh Hewitt. The subject was Marco Rubio, with Hewitt calling him "the most dynamic speaker the Republican party has seen ever, since Lincoln."  "Since Lincoln," asked Scarborough incredulously—"do you have a tingle going up your leg?"

Scarborough said that rather than recalling Lincoln, "when I see Marco speaking, I'm seeing a guy that's running for student government."  Interesting aside: Hewitt predicts that Republicans will have an open convention, with no candidate having wrapped up the nomination before the delegates get to Cleveland in July.

DWS BS: Schultz Did Not Tell 'About a Dozen' Dem Officials About Number of Debates
By Tom Blumer | October 14, 2015 | 11:07 PM EDT

Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has insisted that she consulted with all of her vice-chairs before deciding on the number of Democratic presidential primary debates would be held.

John Heilemann of Bloomberg Politics, in what Hot Air's Jazz Shaw described as "a rare moment of" someone in the press actually "doing their job" in fact-checking leftists, reported this morning that "I cannot find a vice-chair who was consulted in advance by Debbie Wasserman Schultz." The rest of the press appears to be completely disinterested in reporting on the DNC chair's obvious and blatant falsehood.

Willie Geist: 'Many of My Conservative Friends' Thought Cooper Would Go Easy on Dems
By Mark Finkelstein | October 14, 2015 | 7:30 AM EDT

Wow: an MSMer who not only has "many" conservative friends, but is willing to admit it on live national TV?

On today's Morning Joe, in the course of praising Anderson Cooper's performance as debate moderator, Geist let drop that prior to the debate "many of my conservative friends" thought CNN would go easy on the Dems, but that five minutes in, they told him "oh, I guess he's not going to go easy."

Cokie Roberts: Hillary 'Knows Everything About Every Issue'
By Mark Finkelstein | October 13, 2015 | 9:21 AM EDT

Rush Limbaugh likes to facetiously refer to Hillary Clinton as "the smartest woman in the world." Today's Morning Joe brought us three people who might actually believe it.

Previewing tonight's Dem debate, Mike Barnicle led off the love-in, fantasizing about people coming away from the debate saying "wow, there is a prepared, thorough, knowledgeable candidate. All the Benghazi stuff goes out the window." Next was Joe Scarborough, who said the debate gives Hillary the chance to show voters "she may be the smartest person on the stage and in politics right now."  And finally, the incomparable Cokie Roberts, who gushed that any time Hillary is with "actual people" [as opposed to droids?] she "always wows them" adding that Hillary "knows everything about every issue."  

Scarborough Slams CNN and Other MSM 'Trump Deniers'
By Mark Finkelstein | October 12, 2015 | 8:03 AM EDT

Says Joe Scarborough, if Jeb Bush had Donald Trump's poll numbers, the media would proclaim the race "T-K-Over." Yet rather than touting Trump's commanding lead, the liberal media speculates instead on the Donald's "exit strategy." That had Scarborough blasting CNN and other MSM outlets as "Trump deniers" on today's Morning Joe.

Why is the MSM unwilling to give Donald his due?  Scarborough suggested the media should "just admit: we hate him so much, that even when he is trouncing everybody, we loathe this vulgarian from Queens who we've never accepted into our club and screw him, we're never going to give him any sort of respect." Concluded Joe: "I call them Trump deniers."

Scarborough: People Like Carson in Over Their Head on School Boards
By Mark Finkelstein | October 8, 2015 | 8:36 AM EDT

For weeks now, Joe Scarborough has been expressing befuddlement over Ben Carson's appeal.  It boiled over on today's Morning Joe, as Scarborough went on an extended anti-Carson rant.

Scarborough unleashed after clips were played from town halls in Iowa and New Hampshire in which Republican voters expressed strong support for the notion of Carson as a qualified president. Calling Carson unqualified to be president, Joe railed that he'd seen people like Carson on school boards who got into trouble because they were in "over their heads."

Scarborough: We Cut Clip of Dem Focus Group—Too Negative About Hillary
By Mark Finkelstein | October 7, 2015 | 8:45 AM EDT

Is it the MSM's role to protect Hillary Clinton's image by preventing the public from seeing what members of her own party think of her?  Today's Morning Joe played a clip from a Dem focus group in New Hampshire in which there was near unanamity that Hillary's personality could be a serious turn-off to voters, particularly male ones.

Joe Scarborough then said: "we actually cut a good bit in there, out, that was even more negative of Hillary because we thought it was actually too negative and didn't like some of the connotations there."

Barnicle: 'Assault Weapon' Ban Would Take 'Real Courage'
By Michael McKinney | October 6, 2015 | 12:55 PM EDT

On MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Tuesday, the roundtable turned to the NBC "town hall" Secretary Hillary Clinton had on gun control. Mike Barnicle began the discussion by declaring that it requires courage and hammering gun control for any gun control to be accomplished. Barnicle would then continue on against semi-automatic rifles, in particular the AR-15 and AK-47, because they are "military assault rifles." Mika Brzezinski would bring up the amount of guns owned by the Mercer family, while Joe Scarborough and Eugene Robinson would confront the hardship of parenting and responsibility of adult children.

MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Hails 'The Year of the Bern'
By Michael McKinney | October 5, 2015 | 3:52 PM EDT

Monday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough discussed Bernie Sanders and how strange it is the crowds he draws, and young people in particular. Brzezinski would highlight the numbers Sanders' campaign has brought in compared to President Obama. Brzezinski and Scarborough would address the rise of Sanders and the strong young voter base he has. The discussion would lack at the desire for non-mainstream ideas and how outsider candidates like Trump and Sanders have articulated themselves in the primaries.

Mika: Why Not a Gun Ban Like in Australia?
By Mark Finkelstein | October 5, 2015 | 9:40 AM EDT

They really are coming for your guns . . . After the Charleston church shootings, President Obama praised Australia's draconian gun laws, which included a mandatory buy-back program, AKA confiscation.

On today's Morning Joe, Mika wondered "why" we couldn't institute a similar gun ban in the United States, throwing in support for a database of all gun ownership for good measure.  Joe Scarborough was actually obliged to explain to Mika that her gun ban was never going to happen because we have the Second Amendment here. That left Mika grimacing in regret [see the screengrab].

NR Writer Infuriates Morning Joe Panel by Insisting They Have No New Ideas
By Michael McKinney | October 2, 2015 | 3:56 PM EDT

On Friday's Morning Joe, National Review writer Charles Cooke shook up the roundtable discussing the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Joe Scarborough talked about new gun laws likely wouldn’t have stopped the massacre. Cooke articulated that no one knew how to address the problem of gun control because of the millions of guns on the street. The panel seeking to correct Cooke went after his statements, first with Mark Halperin on a complaint of the overuse of complicated, then Mika Brzezinski on Cooke's perceived hostility to reform, and finally Howard Dean on his ideas to fix the problem.

Hillary's Claim McCarthy Benghazi Comments 'Deeply Distressing' Makes Morning Joe Laugh
By Mark Finkelstein | October 1, 2015 | 8:03 AM EDT

There was Hillary Clinton, telling Al Sharpton of all people that she found Kevin McCarthy's comments about the Benghazi hearings "deeply distressing."  

That was too much for the Morning Joe panel, which just had to laugh.  As John Heilemann put it, far from being distressed, Hillary surely sees McCarthy's comments—implying a political motive behind the hearings—as a Christmas and birthday gift wrapped into one that sent her "skipping through the park."