Yom Kippur was on October 4th. But Joe Scarborough celebrated his own, personal Day of Atonement on today's Morning Joe.
Scarborough came in for tremendous criticism from his largely-left readership after tweeting this last night:
"John Fetterman’s ability to communicate is seriously impaired. Pennsylvania voters will be talking about this obvious fact even if many in the media will not."
And so, trying to grovel his way back into the good graces of the left, Scarborough spent much of Morning Joe's opening half-hour today serving as John Fetterman's surrogate. Scarborough began to backtrack right from the jump. Whereas his tweet spoke exclusively about Fetterman's impairment, and anticipatorily criticized the MSM for refusing to talk about it, Scarborough began by trashing Dr. Oz as a "very slick guy who doesn't happen to fit Pennsylvania."
Scarborough's attack on Oz focused on the doctor's statement that rather than having the federal government involved in the abortion issue, he wanted to leave those decisions to "women, doctors, local political leaders." We can guess he meant states, but Scarborough twisted that phrase like taffy, that Oz would put lawmaking on abortion in the hands of people in "the Parks and Recreation Department," and "the Water Management District."
Scarborough teed up Elise Jordan to respond to his characterization of Oz's statement. Jordan [who as we predicted had some atoning of her own to do toward liberals] dutifully replied:
"Oh my God! That was the most heinous, atrocious answer that Dr. Oz could have possibly uttered last night."
This led to Scarborough sounding a lot like Fetterman, mocking Oz as a carpetbagger from New Jersey (not to mention Turkey), who's Dr. Crudite with a pile of houses. (Pay no attention to Nantucket Joe's real-estate holdings.) If Oz were a Democrat, this would be seen as crude, even xenophobic to bring up Oz's dual citizenship, in saying he doesn't "look like a Pennsylvanian" or talk like one.
Dr. Oz says he wants to get it to the local level. Which really shows something much, much larger here. And this is a guy who voted in Turkey last election. This is a guy who has lived in Jersey, who has his mansion in Jersey, and houses all over the place.
He didn't look Pennsylvanian. I mean, I've been to Pennsylvania a lot—this guy doesn't look like he's from Pennsylvania. He doesn't talk like he's from Pennsylvania. And when he starts talking about people in the Water Management District making decisions about life or death, life-or-death decisions on rape, incest, life of the mother, that's somebody that doesn't think like most Pennsylvanians I've talked to either.
Whatever happened to "the beautiful mosaic," Joe? "Diversity, equity, and inclusion" never includes people who run as Republicans.
Imagine a Republican saying, e.g., that Ilhan Omar "doesn't look like she's from Minnesota. She doesn't talk like she's from Minnesota." Or Rashida Tlaib doesn't sound like she's from Michigan.
Liberal cries of racism, and immediate demands for the offender's cancellation, would echo throughout the land!
On Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough serving as a surrogate for Democrat John Fetterman, and making a xenophobic attack in saying that Dr. Oz doesn't look or talk like a Pennsylvanian, was sponsored in part by Dish TV, GlaxoSmithKline, maker of Trelegy, Infiniti, and Abbott, make of Rinvoq.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
10/26/22
6:01 am EDTJOE SCARBOROUGH: You know, it's very interesting, last night I wrote something that, that was very obvious. Dr. Oz is very slick, a guy who doesn't happen to fit Pennsylvania. He made some statements that I know cause great concerns to people in Pennsylvania. Especially where, in the words of Charlie Pierce, he wanted the Parks and Recreation people to make decisions on the local level for abortions. I don't know how that's going to play in Scranton. Probably not well.
And then you had, of course, Fetterman, who's, who's struggling. He's, he's struggling with the effects of his stroke that he suffered in May. Um, and, you know, I said, it's, it's very obvious that he is impaired. His ability to communicate impaired.
And, and, the question is, you, you, your Pennsylvania voters have a couple of choices.
. . .
DR. OZ: As a physician, I've been in the room when there's some difficult conversations happening. I don't want the federal government involved with that at all. I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that's always allowed our nation to thrive, to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves.
SCARBOROUGH: Local, local officials. Elise: would you want a county commissioner making life-and death-decisions --
ELISE JORDAN: Oh my God!
SCARBOROUGH: -- about you and your family?
JORDAN: That was the most heinous, atrocious answer that Dr. Oz could have possibly uttered last night.
SCARBOROUGH: Now you have Dr. Oz talking about wanting local officials to make decisions, life-and death-decisions, about 10-year-old girls getting raped, a 14-year-old incest victim. You go down the long list. All of the -- all of the horrific things that were imagined before Roe v. Wade was overturned. Well, it appears that a lot of state legislatures are making those -- those imagined horrors actually a reality for so many Americans.
And now, Dr. Oz says he wants to get it to the local level. Which really shows something much, much larger here. And this is a guy who voted in Turkey last election. This is a guy who has lived in Jersey, who has his mansion in Jersey, and houses all over the place.
He didn't look Pennsylvanian. I mean, I've been to Pennsylvania a lot—this guy doesn't look like he's from Pennsylvania. He doesn't talk like he's from Pennsylvania. And when he starts talking about people in the Water Management District making decisions about life or death, life-or-death decisions on rape, incest, life of the mother, that's somebody that doesn't think like most Pennsylvanians I've talked to either.
