Muy Macho Joe Scarborough thinks he is one tough hombre.
And Scarborough's manly uber-manliness isn't confined to the serene byways of 30 Rock. To the contrary, Scarborough's machismo extends, quite literally, to the halls of the Capitol!
As we noted last year, Scarborough fantasized about beating up a Capitol tourist taking photos somewhere Joe didn't like.
"If I'm giving a tour on any day of the year, and a guy's stopping and taking a picture of, like, metal detectors, taking a picture of entries, you know? I'd stop and say, hey, hey, hey Inspector Clouseau! Put the camera down or I'm gonna make you eat it. I would slap the camera out of his hand. If I were a Member of Congress, and a guy's doing this, I'd say, what are you doing? Stop. And I'd slap."
Tough stuff! The kind of thing Scarborough no doubt learned while summering on the hardscrabble streets of Nantucket.
So it was paradoxical, to say the least, to find Scarborough clutching his pearls this morning over others engaging in tough talk in the Capitol. It's one thing for urbane TV anchors to decry the "junior high" sound of it all. But it's different from Mr. "I'm Gonna Make You Eat It."
Today's Morning Joe opened with a shocked, stunned, and appalled Scarborough condemning the exchange at a Senate committee hearing yesterday between Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin and Teamsters president Sean O'Brien.
In June on X, O’Brien challenged Mullin, a former MMA fighter prior to coming to Congress, to a fight. O’Brien’s social media post called Mullin a “clown” and “fraud” and ended with, “You know where to find me. Anyplace, Anytime cowboy.”
At yesterday's hearing, Mullin took up the challenge, saying, “Sir, this is a time. This is a place. You want to run your mouth? We can be two consenting adults — we can finish it here.”
“OK, that’s fine. Perfect,” O’Brien responded
Scarborough mocked Mullin. Putting on a macho voice, Scarborough imagined Mullin saying, "I'm going to play by man rules. I'm takin' off my ring. I'm going to fight ya!" Scarborough threw in a couple of "come-ons" to express his disapproval of Mullin's behavior
Seems Scarborough doesn't want anyone challenging his reputation as The Toughest Dude on Capitol Hill.
Note: Scarborough threatening to beat up a Capitol tourist is far from the only time Joe has flexed his muy macho muscles on Morning Joe. As we have noted in the past, Scarborough has:
- Bragged that he wouldn't let anyone "emasculate" him the way Donald Trump supposedly did to J.D. Vance.
- Boasted that, unlike "very weak" Lindsey Graham, he'd fight angry protesters in an airport.
- Declared that he'd "die" before negotiating like "snowflake" Kevin McCarthy.
- Vowed that he'd say "f-off" if spoken to like Matt Gaetz spoke to Kevin McCarthy.
On Morning Joe, Scarborough being appalled by tough talk between UAW President Sean O'Brien and Oklahoma Sen. Mullin was sponsored in part by Liberty Mutual and Sleep Number.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
11/15/23
6:00 am ETBYRON DONALDS: Listen, you have little things that happen from time to time. It is not that big a deal. Get over it.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: There are dumb days on Capitol Hill and there are dumber days on Capitol Hill. And this is one of the dumbest I've seen in quite a long time.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Yeah. The House passed a bill. That's the news, to avoid a government shutdown, but all of it --
JOE SCARBOROUGH: A lot of fights. A lot of fights.
MIKA: Fighting! Overshadowed by childish behavior, pushing, shoving --
SCARBOROUGH: All over the Hill!
MIKA: By Republicans in both chambers.
SCARBOROUGH: Come on.
MIKA: In both chambers. We're going to show you more of those antics in just a moment.
SCARBOROUGH: You see that one guy, Willie, get up, he's like, starting to take off his ring. [Adopts macho voice] "I'm going to play by man rules. I'm takin' off my ring. And I'm going to fight ya."
Come on. Bernie Sanders, one of the best, like, like, WWE refs of all time, hold on! Sit down! Stop this. None of this.
Can I speak, Mr. --
MIKA: No!
SCARBOROUGH: Mr. Chairman.
No you cannot! Sit down and be quiet!
And you noticed, they all did, right? Bernie took control.
WILLIE GEIST: Yeah. Bernie was the grown-up in the room. He said you are a United States Senator, sit down. And this Senator Mullin persisted, from Oklahoma, trying to fight the head of an American labor union.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh come on.
GEIST: Physically fight, in the United States Senate.
SCARBOROUGH: [Exhales loudly] Wow. I'll tell you what --
MIKA: Just pathetic.
