When last week we wrote about insecure Joe Scarborough's habit of bragging about himself, we thought his list of boasts would be hard to top. But on today's Morning Joe, Scarborough managed to outdo himself in the braggadocio department.
Discussing the debt ceiling deal currently on the table, Scarborough spun a tale of how, back when Mark Meadows was a congressman back in 2017, Joe had emphatically instructed him to get spending under control. As Scarborough described it:
"I remember talking to Mark Meadows, going to him I think in 2017, going, "Dude! You guys are spending too much money!" Instead of doing all your stupid virtue signaling, you need to start focusing on spending.
"I told Meadows this twice while we were having lunch at the Capitol! I said, "you have got to use your position to actually curb spending in Washington, D.C. It's out of control."
Working in a couple more boasts, Scarborough added:
"I said, "it's important for you guys to do what we did when we were there. We stopped our own Republican brothers and sisters from spending too much. Balanced the budget four years in a row."
So Joe reminded the audience, as he does at every opportunity, that he had been . . . A MEMBER OF CONGRESS! And what's more, as you'll see Joe illustrating in the screencap, the Republican caucus of which he was a member balanced the budget four--count 'em, four--times!
Oh, and Joe also managed to mention that he had lunch with Meadows at "the Capitol"--no shabby burger joint for Joe Scarborough!
Sadly, tragically, as Joe tells it:
"But do you think he listened? No, he didn't listen."
Yes, if only Scarborough could be King for a Day! All the country's--nay, the world's--problems would be solved!
But should we really believe that this was Scarborough's advice in the first year of President Trump? No. Let's reach back into the NewsBusters archive, as then-intern Kevin Baker demonstrated the real Joe almost exactly six years ago:
“I'm a fiscal conservative. But when I look at this budget, the blueprint that the President has proposed, it is nothing less than hateful.” He then proceeded to expound upon the budget’s many vices crying out, “It guts basic services, it slashes cancer research, it slashes health care for the poor, it slashes money for rural hospitals, it slashes money for rural hospice care, it slashes money for anything involving health care in rural America!”
Looks two-faced! Scarborough should remember that when he makes boasts about his private lunchtime political advice from 2017, we always have the video of what he said on television in 2017. Should anyone take seriously that told Mark Meadows the exact opposite of what he said on television?
PS: Back then, I posted this fake anti-GOP ad from the Morning Joe "kids" on YouTube, and it sounds a lot like Democrats and their media pals on budget matters:
On Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough bragging about how he told Mark Meadows, when he was Pres. Trump's chief of staff, that Republicans had to cut spending but that they didn't listen to him, was sponsored in part by Apple, maker of iPhone, Ring, and Dove.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
5/31/23
6:08 am EDTJOE SCARBOROUGH: You know, Mika, again, the very people who are screaming, the very people who are screaming right now about this debt ceiling being raised, with cuts, with significant cuts, are the very people, again, who went along with Donald Trump three times. Three times!
And even those who voted against it weren't screaming, holding press conferences, saying it's the end of the republic like they are now. It's total nonsense! They sat there quietly, quietly, including the Freedom Caucus.
I remember talking to Mark Meadows, going to him I think in 2017, going, "dude! You guys are spending too much money! Instead of doing all your stupid virtue signaling, you need to start focusing on spending."
I told Meadows this twice while we were having lunch at the Capitol! I said, "you have got to use your position to actually curb spending in Washington, D.C. It's out of control, and here's the thing you gotta worry about." I told him! "You gotta worry about what happens when Republicans are in power, because then, as it happened under George W. Bush, the spending's out of control."
The Democrats love spending, too. So if the Republicans want to spend, Democrats aren't going to stop them. Right? So I said, "it's important for you guys to do what we did when we were there. We stopped our own Republican brothers and sisters from spending too much. Balanced the budget four years in a row."
But do you think he listened? No, he didn't listen.
