As soon as a promising Republican presidential contender arises, the liberal media sets to work whacking him down.
And so it was on today's Morning Joe, which devoted a long segment to the rise of Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, whom a recent presidential preference poll among conservatives showed edging ahead of Donald Trump. The thrust of the segment was that DeSantis offers many of Trump's advantages, but without his drawbacks. But Scarborough found the most pejorative way of putting it, saying:
"We're going from the political heroin to the political methadone."
So in one foul swoop, Scarborough managed to insult the Republican electorate, Trump, and DeSantis. Republican voters are a bunch of heroin addicts. Trump is heroin. And DeSantis is little better, given that methadone is also an addictive opiate.
Scarborough reveled in his sliming of Republican voters, laughing as he said that going from heroin to methadone was, "not bad from Republicans that go to Faith and Freedom conferences." So Scarborough was amused by his metaphor analogizing even culturally-conservative Republicans to heroin addicts.
Here's Joe's snide attack in full:
We’re going from the political heroin to the political methadone. They're moving away from Trump. I hear time and again, Willie -- not bad from Republicans [laughs] that go to Faith and Freedom conferences, but I hear the same thing over and over again. Why do you love Desantis so much? Why do you think DeSantis is going to win? Why do you think DeSantis is the the guy in 2024? They all say he’s Trump with the things we love about Trump and none of the liabilities.
Note: in addition to the straw poll of Republicans that Mika cited showing DeSantis' approval rating higher than Trump's, Scarborough pointed to other indicia of DeSantis' rise. Scarborough quoted a veteran Republican who had attended last week's Faith and Freedom conference saying DeSantis had been greeted "like a conquering king." Here's why Joe may be worried:
My God, you should have seen the response for Ron DeSantis. He was like a conquering king. And this person, who’s been in Republican politics for 40, 45 years, said, I haven’t seen anything [like this] since Reagan in ‘80. It was unbelievable.
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough saying that Republicans, in moving away from Donald Trump and toward Ron DeSantis for the 2024 presidential nomination, are "going from political heroin to political methadone" was sponsored in part by Uber, Liberty Mutual, GMC, and Walmart.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
6/22/21
6:08 am EDTJOE SCARBOROUGH: Have you all heard the news?
MICHAEL STEELE: What’s that?
SCARBOROUGH: I don’t know, but there may be — there may be a new leader in the Republican Party, at least in the rank and file. Have you guys heard this?
STEELE: Uh-oh, uh-oh, okay.
SCARBOROUGH: No, I’m serious.
STEELE: Oh yeah, this is good.
. . .
SCARBOROUGH: This one person [who attended the Faith and Freedom Coalition event last week in which a few people booed Mike Pence] said, but my God, you should have seen the response for Ron DeSantis. He was like a conquering king. And this person, who’s been in Republican politics for 40, 45 years, said, I haven’t seen anything [like this] since Reagan in ‘80. It was unbelievable.
. . .
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: A new straw poll shows Republicans’ top choice for their next presidential nominee. It’s not who you might think. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis topped former President Donald Trump in a poll taken at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver this past weekend.
. . .
SCARBOROUGH: I think I saw some — even those online betting things --
STEELE: -- Oh yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: -- where you bet for the presidents, had Desantis ahead of Trump . . . This town, not just this town, but also the activists, whether they’re evangelicals or whether they’re money people, they’re all — they’re quietly moving towards putting their money on Desantis.
. . .
STEELE: What you’re seeing, I think, is the base making the pivot. They’re making a move off of Trump, towards Desantis.
SCARBOROUGH: We’re going from the political heroin to the political methadone. They're moving away from Trump. I hear time and again, Willie -- not bad from Republicans [laughs] that go to Faith and Freedom conferences, but I hear the same thing over and over again. Why do you love Desantis so much? Why do you think DeSantis is going to win? Why do you think DeSantis is the the guy in 2024? They all say he’s Trump with the things we love about Trump and none of the liabilities.
