Was Joe Scarborough ever a good ol' Southern boy, as he still likes to portray himself? In any case, that persona has definitively disappeared. On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough exposed himself as the worst kind of condescending Upper West Side snob.
The show devoted much of its opening segment to attacking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over his Covid stance. At one point, after playing a clip of DeSantis's remarks on the subject, Scarborough referenced an ignorant Simpsons character, mocking:
"I mean, who was he talking to? Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel?"
That's apparently how Scarborough sees his fellow Floridians who support DeSantis. The same people that Scarborough now so disparagingly describes formed part of Joe's base when he was a congressman from the Florida panhandle.
Here's the full exchange of Scarborough's insult. (And in case you're not a Simpsons fan, see the picture below to know what Joe thinks of the governor's supporters.)
WILLIE GEIST: Meanwhile, as you saw at the top of the show, Governor DeSantis responded to Joe Biden’s criticism of him, and other Republican governors, for banning mask mandates.
DESANTIS: Joe Biden has taken to himself to try to single out Florida over Covid. What is his big solution? What is he so upset about Florida? His solution is he wants to have the government force kindergarteners to wear masks in school. He thinks that should be a decision for the government. Well I can tell you that in Florida, the parents are going to be the ones in charge of that decision. So why don’t you do your job, why don’t you get this border secure, and until you do that, I don’t want to hear a blip about Covid from you.
SCARBOROUGH: I mean, who, who was he talking to? Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel? Like who, who was really fooled by that?
There was another moment in which Scarborough seemed to expose his faux populism. Decrying DeSantis' advocacy of rules that would prohibit localities from imposing school mask mandates, Scarborough was making the point that he has children in Florida schools, and would hope that local school boards could require masks if they deem them necessary.
He said:
"I'm a parent in Florida. I've got kids going to pub-- going to school."
It seemed that Scarborough was on the verge of saying that his kids go to "public" school. But he then stopped himself short, pulling back on that claim. So where do they go to school, Joe?
Scarborough also adopted the absurd Democrat talking point that DeSantis is, of all things, a "socialist." Earlier in the week, we noted Dave Aronberg, the Democrat Palm Beach County State Attorney, appearing on Morning Joe, accusing DeSantis of "socialism" for favoring state rules prohibiting school mask mandates, rather than letting localities decide on the issue. Scarborough parroted that line three times today. At one point, Scarborough called DeSantis "Socialist Ron."
But ol' Ron, he says no. The power of the state, socialism rules, we’re going to decide everything from 1,000 miles away. It’s no more conservative, actually, than good ol' Ron, Socialist Ron, saying, hey, if you were a business, you have no control over how you keep your business safe. I will ban you from taking safety precautions that you think will keep people inside your business safe and that you think will help your bottom line. Big Republicanism? I guess so. Sounds like socialism to me.
Joe's absurd slur is likely to flop as badly as his failed attempt to pin "Moscow Mitch" and "Chokehold Mitch" monikers on Mitch McConnell.
Note: Scarborough began his attack on DeSantis by deploying an incomprehensible analogy. He said that DeSantis' position on Covid was "like a doctor saying, why don’t you work on your backswing, and I will do the scans and see whether you have cancer or not." Huh?
Joe Scarborough calling Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis "Socialist Ron," and suggesting that DeSantis' constituency is "Cletus the slack-jawed yokel," was sponsored in part by AllState, Volvo, and Panera.
Here's the transcript. Click "expand" to read more.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
8/5/21
6:00 am EDTRON DESANTIS: Why don’t you do your job? why don’t you get this border secure? And until you do that, I don’t want to hear a blip about Covid from you.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: [laughs raucously] It’s like a doctor saying, why don’t you work on your backswing, and I will do the scans and see whether you have cancer or not. I don’t even get that.
. . .
I’m a parent, and I certainly hope that my kids, and kids in their classes, are going to be able to wear masks. If that is, in fact, what mandate the teachers and the students, the local school board, local school board, imagine that, decisions being made on the local level, imagine that, decisions being made by parents, teachers, principals and students, imagine that. Why that almost sounds like a conservative concept.
But ol' Ron, he says no. The power of the state, socialism rules, we’re going to decide everything from 1,000 miles away. It’s no more conservative, actually, than good ol' Ron, Socialist Ron, saying, hey, if you were a business, you have no control over how you keep your business safe. I will ban you from taking safety precautions that you think will keep people inside your business safe and that you think will help your bottom line. Big Republicanism? I guess so. Sounds like socialism to me.
WILLIE GEIST: Meanwhile, as you saw at the top of the show, Governor DeSantis responded to Joe Biden’s criticism of him, and other Republican governors, for banning mask mandates.
DESANTIS: Joe Biden has taken to himself to try to single out Florida over Covid. What is his big solution? What is he so upset about Florida? His solution is he wants to have the government force kindergarteners to wear masks in school. He thinks that should be a decision for the government. Well I can tell you that in Florida, the parents are going to be the ones in charge of that decision. So why don’t you do your job, why don’t you get this border secure, and until you do that, I don’t want to hear a blip about Covid from you.
SCARBOROUGH: I mean, who, who was he talking to? Cletus the slack-jawed yokel? Like who, who was really fooled by that? He goes, I'm going to let parents --. No. I’m a parent in Florida. I've got kids going to pub--, going to school in Florida.
