The cast of Morning Joe on Friday was clearly worried that Donald Trump might be headed for reelection next year. Joe Scarborough contrasted Trump's forceful appearance at yesterday's Cincinnati rally with the Dem candidates getting down in the wonky policy weeds at their debates this week. Scarborough said that Trump reminded him of Fat Bastard, of Austin Powers fame. Not the most flattering metaphor, but one that emphasized the president's power.
Scarborough cited a New York Times column by David Brooks in which he, in turn, quoted Marianne Williamson to the effect that if Dems are going to defeat Trump, they will need an "equal force" to his. But looking at the Dem field, Scarborough saw no one who "understands how to take it to a higher level."
Scarborough mocked:
Did you see the Austin Powers movies? He sort of reminded me at times of Fat Bastard. At times he was looking at the audience. It’s a character. It’s a character. It’s a character in Austin Powers. And he’s sniffing and he's looking around, and he said, thank you, thank you. I thought he was going to say, get into my stomach at one point
Donny Deutsch also sang a worried tune. He fearfully fretted that sometime next spring, President Trump would pivot to a less-provocative personality, making him "really tough to beat." Deutsch took Scarborough's Fat Bastard a step further, saying Trump reminded him of Mussolini, a simile that Scarborough picked up. Deutsch also rapped the Dems' "pretty poor" debate performance.
Note: Scarborough imagined Fat Bastard Trump saying "get in my stomach!" True Austin Powers aficionados know that the actual line is "get in my belly!"
Here's the transcript. Click "expand" to read more.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
8/2/19
6:04 am EDT
JOE SCARBOROUGH: [President Trump at yesterday's rally] actually reminded me — you see the Austin Powers movies?WILLIE GEIST: Oh yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: Did you see the Austin Powers movies? He sort of reminded me at times of Fat Bastard. At times he was looking at the audience. It’s a character. It’s a character. It’s a character in Austin Powers. And he’s sniffing and he's looking around, and he said, thank you, thank you. I thought he was going to say, get into my stomach at one point . . . This is a guy — he is, as David Brooks said this morning in the New York Times, this is a guy, is a force, and the only way the Democrats are going to beat him is with an equal force.
. . .The thing that last night’s rally showed — and it was a great — I think it was a great comparison with what the Democrats were doing. It showed that here was a guy that strutted across the stage. He was — he was being a demagogue. I would say Mussolini-like. Just picking at racial resentments constantly. And then you go like the previous two nights, and you have Democrats going [imitates wonky voice]: well you know, I have looked at subsection three of page 487 of your Medicare for all plan [BBC's Katty Kay bursts into laughter], and I fear that after the third deductible, that the coverage may not be as satisfactory if you are in Medicare zone three instead of Medicare zone one. Of course, of course, you have to weigh that with a Brookings Instit -— I could go on all night, because the Democrats went on all night.
KATTY KAY: They did.
SCARBOROUGH: They never — there’s not a Democrat on the stage that understands how to take it to a higher level, that understands the bigger things.
