MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough visited the battleground state of New Hampshire over the weekend and spoke at two Republican Party events to promote his new book “The Right Path.” Despite Scarborough’s reputation as being an MSNBC Republican, the folks at “Morning Joe” oozed over Scarborough’s visit, with co-host Mika Brzezinski narrating a campaign-style piece for her colleague.
The segment began with Mika hyping the “great reception he got…packed house” before beginning a nearly 4 minute pre-packaged piece on Scarborough’s trip into New Hampshire. [See video below.]
After playing several clips of Scarborough speaking to state Republicans, Mike hyped how “Joe shared is obsession with helping the GOP remaster politics with first in the nation primary veterans at the northeast Republicans meeting.” The entire segment aired behind campaign style music, amidst Mike hinting, “Talk quickly turned to 2016.”
During his weekend speeches, Scarborough promoted the notion that “People get upset when I say we need Colin Powell to vote for us. And a lot of times they’ll go but wait a second, why do we need Colin Powell voting for our guy? He voted Democratic the last two elections! We want the people that used to vote Republican that are now voting Democratic to come back home. “
The informal Scarborough 2016 segment concluded with Mika heaping praise on her colleague:
It was a great event. The book is really a great sort of map for the Republican Party to help the party figure out how to win again, which Joe was up there trying to do and they all kept saying, are you going to run? Are you going to run? I wish I had gone and said, no, I won't let him, because I love my job.
This nauseating self-promotional segment was so perfectly choreographed that one would have expected the standard “I’m Joe Scarborough and I approve of this message” statement to play at the end. All that was missing was a link for MSNBC viewers to make contributions to Joe’s 2016 presidential campaign.
For a man who was supporting conservatism in New Hampshire over the weekend, it would be nice if Scarborough would bring some of those values with him to MSNBC as he spends much of his time slamming conservatives rather than promoting them.
See relevant transcript below.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
March 17, 2014
7:26 a.m. Eastern
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: All right. Joe Scarborough was up in New Hampshire this past weekend speaking about his latest book, "The Right Path." Actually Newsmax has a great piece up this morning. I love Newsmax, about the great reception he got and everything that happened there, what he said, what others said. Packed house. So highlights on Newsmax and also here on Morning Joe. Here now is a note from New Hampshire.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Ronald Reagan believed in his heart and he could tell people with his words, conservatism, small government conservatism, liberty. That didn't help the 47%. That helped all Americans. It was just as relevant to an 18-year-old Latino voter in south central L.A. as it is a 65-year-old hedge fund broker in Greenwich, Connecticut.
BRZEZINSKI: Joe Scarborough went to New Hampshire this weekend to promote the ideas in his book, "The Right Path" but talk quickly turned to 2016. Joe was asked to headline two events in the Granite State to talk about how Republicans can win the White House again.
SCARBOROUGH: We are not going to start winning national elections again until we get somebody that can get both Ted Cruz's vote and Colin Powell's vote.
BRZEZINSKI: First, to a packed house at the new Hampshire Institute of Politics in Manchester.
SCARBOROUGH: People get upset when I say we need Colin Powell to vote for us. And a lot of times they’ll go but wait a second, why do we need Colin Powell voting for our guy? He voted Democratic the last two elections! We want the people that used to vote Republican that are now voting Democratic to come back home.
BRZEZINSKI: Then it was to neighboring Nassau where Joe shared is obsession with helping the GOP remaster politics with first in the nation primary veterans at the northeast Republicans meeting.
SCARBOROUGH: We don't want another Clinton in the White House for eight years. I heard a "Praise God." So let's just try this and all of the people said, amen! And we have lost our way over the past several years. You win by knocking on doors. It's not enough that you get people voting for Republicans that come from my household because we never voted for a Democrat in the national election any way. You got to bring people back home.
UNKNOWN PERSON: I think New Hampshire has proven that it gives everyone a fair shot, you know? Even a guy that works at MSNBC if he wanted to.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh!
UNKNOWN: So I think we are pretty open-minded.
SCARBOROUGH: Let me say right now, I really don't think we can get Al Sharpton up here, but I will ask.
BRZEZINSKI: It was a great event. The book is really a great sort of map for the Republican Party to help the party figure out how to win again, which Joe was up there trying to do and they all kept saying, are you going to run? Are you going to run? I wish I had gone and said, no, I won't let him, because I love my job.
THOMAS ROBERTS: It’s fun speculation though.
