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Morning Joe Tag

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on December 08, 2016 33 Comments
Donald Trump's nominations have turned out to be a pleasant surprise for some of his biggest conservative critics. That was Joe Scarborough's take on today's Morning Joe. From James Mattis at Defense, to John Kelly at DHS, and now to EPA foe Scott Pruitt . . . at EPA, the President-elect has proposed people with strong records and in a number of cases, strong conservative philosophies. So much so that Scarborough remarked: "How fascinating that the Never Trumpers and the Wall Street Journal editorial page and the Bill Kristols, and all the people who were rightly the most skeptical of Donald Trump during the primary, have to sit back going, wow, I would not have gotten this with Jeb or Marco."

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on December 05, 2016 6 Comments
The American foreign-policy establishment is wringing its collective hands over Donald Trump's phone conversation with the President of Taiwan, and his subsequent tweet in which he took China to task for its currency devaluation, tariffs on American products, and military build-up in the South China Sea. But there was some surprising support for Trump's initiative on today's Morning Joe. First, Mark Halperin said this showed that Trump wasn't planning to be a passive "inbox president" [Ed.: sayonara, leading from behind], and that it was a way for the US to get "leverage" on China where we had none before. Joe Scarborough described years of frustration in which every year Congress would extend China's Most Favored Nation status for one year on the proviso that it improved its record, which it never did. Joe concluded that from his perspective and that of millions of Americans, "pushing back a little bit on China not the worst thing for an American leader to finally do.. There was an intriguing end to the segment. Going to break, Morning Joe played a riff from Rush Limbaugh's famous theme song, A nod to a new reality? The era of Trump/Rush?

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on December 01, 2016 19 Comments
Margaret Thatcher once famously said that "the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." Is that what's happened to the Democratic party? Morning Joe devoted a navel-gazing segment today to the question of where Dems go from here given their loss of the presidency, their failure to take back either house of congress, and their hemorrhaging of governorships and hundreds of state-legislature seats. There was consensus that Nancy Pelosi and her septuagenarian cohort in the Dem leadership were past their sell-by dates. But the bigger problem that was posed was the lack of a Dem agenda, and the suggestion that the Dems need to come up with "new ideas." One Dem panelist claimed "we do have some of those" ideas, but neither he nor anyone else could describe them in any detail. And therein lies the looming disaster for the Dems.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 29, 2016 46 Comments
Early in this presidential election cycle, Mika Brzezinski was a big Elizabeth Warren booster, repeatedly urging the Massachusetts senator to throw her hat into the ring. So it was nothing short of stunning to see Brzezinski go on a blistering attack against Warren on today's Morning Joe. The segment began with a clip of Warren in essence declaring war on Republicans, claiming Dems had won more presidential and senatorial votes, and declaring that they didn't intend to "whimper, whine or grovel." Wondered Mika: "do you lead with anger? . . I am getting tired of this act." "There's an anger there that was shrill . . . unmeasured and almost unhinged. It's not going to work."

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 28, 2016 40 Comments
When I suggested yesterday that Kellyanne Conway was being "less than loyal" to Donald Trump by sharply criticizing Mitt Romney on the Sunday shows, some readers took issue, surmising that Trump himself had encouraged Conway's attacks. But today's Morning Joe reported as Breaking News that two sources at the top of the transition say that Trump is "furious" at Conway for her comments, notably her suggestion that Trump had "betrayed" his supporters by considering Romney for Secretary of State. The sources described Conway as having gone "rogue." Scarborough read a response from Conway in which she called the comments "sexist" and claimed she could have "any job she wants" in the Trump administration.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 21, 2016 22 Comments
Last week, we reported on Morning Joe ripping the notion of Rudy Giuliani as Secretary of State, with Joe Scarborough saying "he’s temperamentally not qualified to be, and he’s not qualified to be it based on any experience or training or any contacts." This morning, the show was still on its anti-Rudy rampage, with Scarborough stating: "it's one of these things that everybody says off camera. I'm going to tell you it to you on camera . . . Even people close to Trump say Rudy Giuliani mentally is a few steps slower than he was several years ago."

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 15, 2016 31 Comments
Morning Joe spent its opening segment scalding the notion of either Rudy Giuliani or John Bolton as Secretary of State in the Trump administration. Giuliani was described as completely unqualified for the job, and someone who has personally profited off national security matters, a la the Clintons. Bolton was blasted as a "neo-con on steroids" whose views are out of sync with Trump's, and is "donor-driven," with Sheldon Adelson's name being dropped. So who's Scarborough and company's pick for SecState? Joe and Mike Barnicle called the selection of Tennessee Senator Bob Corker a "no-brainer." Maybe so, but not necessarily in the way they meant it. Corker is infamously the man who facilitated President Obama's disastrous Iran deal. Corker has been castigated across the conservative spectrum, as here, here, here and here.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 10, 2016 35 Comments
Want to understand the bubble in which the elite, liberal media lives? Check out the banner headline of today's New York Times: "Democrats, Students and Foreign Allies Face the Reality of a Trump Presidency." On today's Morning Joe, Mark Halperin nailed it: "Look at the headline of this story. This is the day after a surprising underdog sweeping victory and their headline is not "disaffected Americans have a champion going to the White House" or "the country votes for fundamental change." The headline is about how disappointed the friends of the people who run the New York Times are about what's happened.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 09, 2016 66 Comments
We'll put Eddie Glaude Jr. down as "undecided" about attending the Kumbaya love-in . . . on today's Morning Joe, Glaude, chair of Princeton's African-American studies department, said "across the board, white America has just elected to my mind an ill-informed racist who by any standard is morally and ethically bankrupt . . . I have to confront my son. " Joe Scarborough has a surprisingly astringent response: "just so you understand, when you talk to your son, that if Hillary Clinton had won, there would have been other people in Iowa who said how do I explain to my son or daughter that someone who should be in prison is now going to the White House?

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 08, 2016 17 Comments
Ivanka has attracted attention as the Trump most likely to have a significant political future. But don't sleep on Donald Trump, Jr. Appearing on today's Morning Joe, Trump, Jr. was impressively thoughtful, articulate, substantive and nuanced, without for one second backing down from making his case forcefully and unapologetically. For a taste of Trump, Jr., view the video as he unblinkingly attacks the double standard, asserting that any average American who had done what Hillary did with her email would be in jail. And when Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post scoffs at his assertion that African-Americans and Hispanics speak encouragingly to family members, Trump, Jr. politely rebuffs him.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 07, 2016 19 Comments
If Serpent Head is nervous . . . There was an ironic contrast on today's Morning Joe. On the one hand, Steve Schmidt—former McCain campaign manager turned Trump antagonist—sees no real chance for the Donald. Said Schmidt: "I've been in the camp that says it's been over for some time," and that "the bill is coming due for the tone and tenor" of Trump's campaign. Schmidt sees Hillary cruising to a win with 320-340 Electoral College votes. It was actually James Carville who in contrast said that it's "not impossible" for Trump to win, and indeed that he's a "nervous wreck." Of the swing states, Carville said he feels best about Florida for Hillary. But he added: "I think she has a better chance to carry Arizona than Ohio." Since all recent indications are that Trump has Arizona comfortably in hand, it sounds like Carville has written off Ohio for Clinton.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 04, 2016 10 Comments
As MSNBC reporters go, Kasie Hunt is among the more even-handed. Even so, no one would confuse her for a covert Trump fan. So it was remarkable that on today's Morning Joe, Hunt offered up this personal observation born out of her being out on the Clinton campaign trail: "the events that Hillary Clinton is holding in these swing states, they don't feel like a winning campaign in the final week." Yikes! Hunt contrasted the "relatively small, relatively excited" crowds at Hillary events with the "screaming crowds of people" at recent Obama rallies, where "the vibe is just entirely different." Concluded Hunt: "you can feel on the ground that enthusiasm problem."

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 03, 2016 24 Comments
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway was in the process of wrapping up a bravura performance on today's Morning Joe. Conway was crisp, pleasant, substantive and nimble. And this Insurrectionist found himself thinking: for once, Conway can focus on the issues as the campaign sees them, instead of having to clean up after some intemperate statement Trump had made. And then . . . Morning Joe rolled a clip of Trump at a rally repeatedly calling out by name NBC reporter Katy Tur for her failure to report the good news about his campaign. Willie Geist: "Do you think it's appropriate for Donald Trump in a setting like that to single out any reporter by name given the heat reporters have taken in this and that Katy had to be escorted out by Secret Service at previous rallies?"

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 02, 2016 44 Comments
Readers will remember the runoff race for governor of Louisiana in 1991 in which the notoriously corrupt Edwin Edwards faced off against ex-Klansman David Duke. The race spawned the greatest bumper sticker in American political history: "Vote for the Crook. It's Important." Now it looks like Hillary might need that same kind of sentiment if she's going to win. Take two telling anecdotes from today's Morning Joe. First, Eddie Glaude Jr., chair of Princeton's African-American studies department, told of someone in an airport telling him "if there's a crook who is going to go into the cockpit, who knows how to fly the plane, and then there's an idiot who doesn't know how to fly the plane, I'm going to vote for the crook." Later, New York Times reporter Yamiche Alcindor said she had spoken to Hillary supporters who "worry about whether she's going to end up indicted [but] would rather have Tim Kaine as president if it comes to that than Donald Trump." If this is the kind of support Hillary is relying on, she is in deep trouble.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on November 01, 2016 7 Comments
Readers have likely already seen montages of major Dems lavishly praising FBI Director James Comey after he announced in July that he wouldn't be recommending the indictment of Hillary Clinton. Those same Dems turned on Comey with a vengeance when this past Friday he announced that the FBI was looking into newly-discovered emails that could be pertinent to its investigation. Morning Joe took the flaying of Dem hypocrisy to another level today, setting its montage to Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were." And when the camera cut back to the set, there were Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, overcome by mock emotion, wiping their eyes. The pair, along with Willie Geist, proceeded to sarcastically scald the way the praise expressed by the Dems was "unconditional," how "it is a love that a mother has for a child," etc.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on October 31, 2016 31 Comments
Frank Drebin would be so proud of his namesake . . . It was one of those classic "nothing to see here, move along" moments. On today's Morning Joe, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni, saying that there was no new terrain broached in FBI Director James Comey's letter of this past Friday, claimed "it won't move people away from" voting for Hillary Clinton. Bruni also praised the "incredibly rapid and thorough mobilization of the Clinton campaign and their allies" in getting headlines to mention Comey as much as Clinton, and to question whether the FBI Director did the right thing. Lost on Bruni was the irony that chief among those Clinton campaign "allies" are members of the liberal media who write the headlines. You know: allies such as . . . Frank Bruni.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on October 26, 2016 10 Comments
About the last person you'd expect to be taking unsubtle shots at Elizabeth Warren's phony claims of Native American heritage is Mika Brzezinski. Early in this presidential cycle, Brzezinski was Warren's biggest fan, urging her to get into the race. But on today's Morning Joe, after clips were played of Warren on the stump for Hillary making over-caffeinated condemnations of Donald Trump, Mika declared "she's on the warpath." Mark Halperin groaned in response, but a butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth Mika feigned ignorance of the gibe she had just aimed.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on October 25, 2016 39 Comments
Could Donald Trump pull a Brexit, confounding elite opinion by winning the election with votes that the polls didn't pick up? On today's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post agreed it could happen. Scarborough said that people are still whispering to him as they leave the room that they're voting for Tump, but are embarrassed to tell pollsters given the coverage of his comments about women, etc. There are limits to the phenomenon: in Cillizza and Scarborough's view, the hidden Trump vote is unlikely to exceed 1.5%. But if Trump can continue to tighten the race in these two final weeks . . . it could be a very interesting election night.
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