By the time the Morning Joe crowd is finished, there might be no one left in the Democrat field! Over the last week, Scarborough & Co. have been urging Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar to drop out. But as of Thursday, Morning Joe's got a new target for the get-out treatment: Mike Bloomberg.
Scarborough riffed off a poll showing that, with Bloomberg remaining in the race in Texas, Sanders and Biden are tied. But with Bloomberg gone, Biden would have a commanding lead. Scarborough surmised that the same thing would occur in 20-30 other states.
Donny Deutsch weighed in, saying that Bloomberg would be "an American hero" and a "patriot" if he went full political-seppuku. Deutsch fantasized that in return for Bloomberg going bye-bye, and throwing his support behind the former veep, Biden would make Mike his Secretary of State. Scarborough summed it up: "There is no doubt that if Biden has a big night [in South Carolina], Bloomberg needs to get out of the race immediately."
The Sanders campaign is already infuriated by what it perceives as unfair treatment at the hands of MSNBC. You can imagine how Morning Joe's attempt to clear the field for Biden and bring Bernie down will be received in Sanders-world!
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
2/27/20
6:43 am ETJOE SCARBOROUGH: If Joe Biden has a great night Saturday night, if that is still Michael Bloomberg's goal, is to stop Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, he needs to drop out early Sunday morning.
Because if he does not, take a look at this Texas poll. If he does not, he is actually helping Bernie Sanders win the nomination. This billionaire will be helping Bernie. This is the 2020 Democratic nomination polling out of Texas. Biden and Sanders are tied at 24, with Bloomberg at 17.
This is what it would look like if Bloomberg got out of the race: Biden easily wins, he's outside the margin. And you can go ahead and put that across another 20 or 30 states.
. . .
Mike Bloomberg, if Biden does well [in South Carolina], and if Bloomberg stays in the race, will be the guy remembered as the politician, the billionaire, who got Bernie Sanders elected.
. . .
DONNY DEUTSCH: If Mike Bloomberg wants to be an American hero, he would step out. I've been saying all along, Bloomberg's got a great opportunity. I think after these first two debates, I don't think the right stuff is there. And if he came out that next day and said, not only am I getting out, I'm getting behind Biden. And Biden said, well, I'm going to make you my Secretary of State, that would change dynamics in this race in a dramatic way. I don't know if it's going to happen, but [looking into camera] Mike Bloomberg, it's your chance to be a patriot here.
. . .
SCARBOROUGH: In this case, there is no doubt that if Biden has a big night, Bloomberg needs to get out of the race immediately, before Super Tuesday.
