Joe Scarborough and the panelists on Monday’s Morning Joe sat down to discuss Saturday’s GOP debate. During the segment, some of Scarborough’s most stinging comments were not about any of the candidates on the stage, but about the crowd that attended the event. “I tell you what, that was a horrible debate. I know it was like the most watched but not only what was going on on stage. I'm sorry, the crowd, was offensive.”
“But—but it was so offensive. They would have candidates getting halfway through their answers and they would star booing. It was like a gladiator event.” Scarborough continued. He then whined that the crowd should have waited to express a reaction. And he didn’t understand why the crowd would be so expressive. It is worth noting, that in the past, Scarborough has sympathized with the GOP base for their frustration and anger with the establishment, though he made it clear that he agreed with Donald Trump that the crowd was only big GOP donors that were targeting him specifically.
Scarborough also tried to equate the behavior to something common in South Carolina. “This happened once—I don’t know Kristen. I’m not sure what Republican debate it was four years ago … It might have been South Carolina, but the crowd was cheering and booing. They had a guy on, I forget who—who. They were booing on YouTube videos.”
“Oh, the gay soldier! Yeah. Yeah.” Sam Stein chimed in.
Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson compared watching the debate to watching a professional wrestling match, a sense that she blamed on the crowd. “It's not that they shouldn't be engaged in hand-to-hand conflict or hand-to-hand combat on stage but something about the audience gave it more of a feel of watching a professional wrestling match.”
Cheering and booing at a presidential debate is nothing new. Joe Scarborough and the rest of the Morning Joe panel were strangely quiet about audience interaction when it came to the Democratic Party debate in New Hampshire, where both candidates drew loud reactions from the crowd while they were speaking.
This seemingly faux outrage could be because the boos and jeers where mostly directed at Trump, someone who is a noted liberal media darling.
Transcript below:
MSNBC
Morning Joe
February 15, 2016
6:28:52 – 6:30:56 am EasternJOE SCARBOROUGH: I tell you what, that was a horrible debate. I know it was like the most watched but not only what was going on on stage. I'm sorry, the crowd, was offensive.
KATTY KAY: Awful.
SCARBOROUGH: It was offensive. Halfway –
SAM STEIN: I loved it.
KAY: It was so predictable.
SCARBOROUGH: It was a—of course you would. [ Laughter ]
But—but it was so offensive. They would have candidates getting halfway through their answers and they would star booing. It was like a gladiator event.
KAY: I don't know why CBS didn't say "We don't want a reaction from the crowd." I guess they haven't done that for a while, so.
SCARBOROUGH: You know, do it afterwards but the crowd was the star of that debate and it amped everything up and I don't understand. This happened once—I don’t know Kristen. I’m not sure what Republican debate it was four years ago –
STEIN: I think it was South Carolina.
KAY: South Carolina.
SCARBOROUGH: It might have been South Carolina, but the crowd was cheering and booing. They had a guy on, I forget who—who. They were booing on YouTube videos.
STEIN: Oh, the gay soldier! Yeah. Yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: It was—Why? I just don’t understand. Why do they—I was taught—it was horrible.
KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON: It made me feel like I was watching a professional wrestling match. And it—we--- these are important conflicts between these candidates that we need to tease out.
There are differences between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, differences between Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, differences between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush, we need to tease that out. It's not that they shouldn't be engaged in hand-to-hand conflict or hand-to-hand combat on stage but something about the audience gave it more of a feel of watching a professional wrestling match.
SCARBOROUGH: Jon Meacham, it was deplorable, wasn't it?
JON MEACHAM: It was distracting and –
SCARBOROUGH: No, I think – [ Inaudible ]
MEACHAM: And also, and I wonder if ultimately this will play into the Trump narrative.
SCARBOROUGH: Of course.
MEACHAM: And, you know, the fact that they were so anti-trump and, you know, he would get one or two words out and they'd be on him. I think, you know, it might have made the establishment feel better about itself, we’ve seen what he can do when he get beyond the walls of the establishment. And that’s were his strength is.
