Mike Barnicle

Morning Joe Gushes Over Graham for Ripping Republicans on Muslim Rhetoric
By Mark Finkelstein | December 16, 2015 | 8:42 AM EST

When tagging items at NewsBusters, one of our Media Bias sub-categories is "Sudden Respect." The notion is that to win the affection of the MSM, all a Republican or conservative needs to do is turn against members or positions of his party. A great illustration of the phenomenon comes from today's Morning Joe. During last night's undercard debate, Lindsey Graham repeatedly ripped fellow Republicans for their rhetoric on Muslims, at one point even apologizing to Muslims for Donald Trump's comments.

And that of course caused what Rush might call a GrahamGasm by the Morning Joe crew. Mike Barnicle called Graham "fantastic," Nicolle Wallace said "I adore Lindsey Graham." Most amazing was Mika Brzezinski, who beyond praising him as "incredible" actually declared, sounding like she was choking up, "I feel a connection with Lindsey Graham," causing Joe Scarborough to claim [we presume facetiously] that Mika said "where has he been all my life?" Not to be outdone, Joe called on President Obama to award Graham the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Barnicle summed up the panel's sentiment by saying "thank God for Lindsey Graham."

Scarborough: Lifelong Republicans Tell Me They'll Vote for Hillary Over Cruz/Trump
By Mark Finkelstein | December 14, 2015 | 7:58 AM EST

Joe Scarborough prefaced his remarks this morning by saying "this is the sort of thing that right-wing bloggers get very angry about."  So let's oblige him . . . 

On Morning Joe, Scarborough said "I am shocked by how many Republicans, that have always voted Republican, that have said they're going to vote for Hillary if it's Cruz or Trump running against Hillary. I'm talking Deep South, Southern Baptist. I asked people who I expect to say yes, Cruz, go "hell no. No. I will never vote for Ted Cruz or Donald Trump. I will vote for Hillary Clinton."

Barnicle Frets Creating NATO Force Would Fuel ISIS Recruitment
By Mark Finkelstein | November 17, 2015 | 7:58 AM EST

If Mike Barnicle were around at the beginning of WWII, perhaps he would have written "we better not fight back. It might make Hitler mad."     

On today's Morning Joe, the cringing former Boston Globe columnist, second-guessing a united front against terrorism, worried "wouldn't . . . creating a NATO force just add fuel to the recruiting fever that ISIS employs within Europe?" Maybe Mike should start referring to ISIS as Borg. After all, he apparently believes that resistance is futile.

Morning Joe Sees the President Disengaged Against ISIS
By Michael McKinney | November 16, 2015 | 12:17 PM EST

Monday’s Morning Joe began with an evaluation of the actions of the White House prior to and after the attack on Paris Friday night. Joe Scarborough began by demanding to know if the roundtable thought the President actually looked involved and engaged in understanding “the level of threat.” When Mike Barnicle tried to claim the President “looks fully engaged,” Scarborough felt it necessary to confront him on it.

‘Morning Joe’ Mocks Dems Refusal to Say ‘Radical Islam’
By Jeffrey Meyer | November 16, 2015 | 10:09 AM EST

On Monday, the panel on MSNBC’s Morning Joe repeatedly mocked the three Democratic presidential candidates over their refusal to use the term “radical Islam” following last Friday’s terrorist attack in Paris. After playing a clip from Saturday night’s Democratic presidential debate, co-host Joe Scarborough appeared shocked at their answers and proclaimed “How stupid do they think we are?"

Scarborough: No Republican Has Hosted Network Sunday Show or Newscast in 50 Years
By Mark Finkelstein | November 2, 2015 | 8:24 AM EST

In the wake of the CNBC debate debacle, Joe Scarborough went on an epic rant on liberal media bias on today's Morning Joe. He summed things up this way, in challenging the panel: "you can't do it and nobody here can do it: name the single Republican that has hosted a Sunday show, that has been an anchor of a news network for the big three networks over the past 50 years: you can not do it." 

Mark Halperin largely agreed, saying "there's huge liberal media bias." But Mike Barnicle actually claimed that having fair moderators would be a bad thing for Republicans because they would lose their ability to run against the media.

Mike Barnicle: Ben Carson a ‘Political Nut-Boy’ Who’s ‘A Few Quarts Short of a Gallon’
By Tom Johnson | October 14, 2015 | 10:27 AM EDT

For nearly three decades, Ben Carson was the head of pediatric neurosurgery at one of the world’s best hospitals. To MSNBC panelist Barnicle, however, Carson is a “political nut-boy” who reminds him of a patient at a certain type of hospital.

In a Monday Daily Beast column, Barnicle opined that Carson is “out there on the fringe talking nonsense in a soft, nonthreatening manner that is quite similar to the voice level heard among so many sitting sadly by themselves today in Day Rooms of mental institutions, off in a corner, wearing paper slippers, slowly eating apple sauce, unaware that nobody is listening.”

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."  

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.

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].

Barnicle, Nicolle Wallace Clash Over Candidate Clinton: 'Strong' vs. 'Terrible'
By Mark Finkelstein | September 29, 2015 | 7:36 AM EDT

Good ol' Mike Barnicle dutifully carried Dem water this morning, maintaining a straight face while calling Hillary Clinton a "strong" candidate.  But also on the Morning Joe set was Nicolle Wallace, who reported that "Democrats think she's terrible. I hope [Biden] doesn't run, because he's better than her."

For good measure, Mark Halperin opined that Biden might want to wait until February, on the theory that if Bernie Sanders beats Hillary in Iowa or New Hampshire, "there'll be panic," or as Wallace put it, "pandemonium."

Mika Wild About Carly: 'My God, Never Seen Anyone Like Her. Ever'
By Mark Finkelstein | September 17, 2015 | 9:04 AM EDT

It's one thing for conservatives to concur that Carly Fiorina was outstanding at last night's debate.  But to hear a string of superlatives about Fiorina coming from committed liberal Mika Brzezinski was breathtaking.

Over the course of today's Morning Joe, a stream of praise for Fiorina flowed from Mika, capped by this: "my God, I have never seen anyone like her. Ever."