Along with national affairs analyst John Heilemann, MSNBC’s Morning Joe co-hosts/lovers Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough opened Monday’s show by continuing to celebrate the midterm election victories by Democrats, suggesting the President is “Baghdad Bob-ing again” and engaging in “political dingbattery” when he talked about GOP successes on Election Night.
Brzezinski declared after highlights from Trump’s Fox News Sunday appearance that “we learned a lot from the President over the weekend, that Republicans had a great victory in the midterms” to which Scarborough lamenting that he’s “Baghdad Bob-ing again.”
Moments later, Scarborough argued that Trump “took the Trumpisms and....took crazy to 11 if we want to borrow parlance from spinal tap” on a scale of one-to-10.
“[T]here's so much to go through here. A lot of disturbing things, a lot of things just showing a guy even more out of touch than usual, if that’s even possible,” Scarborough continued as Brzezinski engaged in her trademark groans and interjections of agreement or disillusionment at things her fiancé said.
The pair then gloated (click “expand”):
BRZEZINSKI: Well, Democrats extended their gains in the House over the weekend as more races were called in their favor.
SCARBOROUGH: Wait. Wait. You mean even more races, Mika —
BRZEZINSKI: Oh, yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: — went Democratic?
BRZEZINSKI: It's a wave.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, my gosh.
BRZEZINSKI: The latest count is 37 seats added to their caucus with three still undecided. That number goes along with significant gains in state governments all over the country. Democrats won the national popular vote in the House by at least 7.7 percentage points.
SCARBOROUGH: That's a lot.
BRZEZINSKI: According to the Cook Political Report’s running tabulation, they estimate the number could go as high as nine points. But in an interview with Fox —
SCARBOROUGH: You know, also, Democrats picked up more governor seats
BRZEZINSKI: They did.
SCARBOROUGH: — than either party since 1994, almost a quarter century. Oh, my gosh, I forgot, they also — Republicans lost over 330 state legislative seats.
Like tried and true liberals and even worse considering their previous infatuation with Trump, Brzezinski basked in the “resounding rebuke” by voters. Meanwhile, Scarborough called it “[f]ar worse” but instead “historic as far as just how badly Trump Republicans did and no doubt it's got to sting.”
Ignoring the fact that many of the Republicans who lost were moderates and/or Trump-skeptics, Scarborough went on and mocking Trump’s inner thoughts (click “expand”):
SCARBOROUGH: I destroyed the careers of 37, 38 members of Congress, I destroyed the careers of seven Republican governors, I destroyed the careers of over 300 Republicans in state legislative races. I must look inward and examine myself, Donald Trump, and figure out how I could do better two years from now. Is that what he did?
BRZEZINSKI: No. No. In an interview with Fox News, President Trump insisted that the election was a far greater victory for Republicans.
SCARBOROUGH: What? This is a shock....This was a complete shellacking by Trump Republicans and also if he wants to even look at the Senate, my God, they had a historic advantage, probably should have picked up five, six, seven seats, but while Donald Trump saying this, Chris Wallace isn't believing it and really no Republicans on Capitol Hill at this point are believing it ever. They know that this was a devastating loss for Trump Republicanism.
They later brought in Heilemann after they mocked Senate Republican gains because they were on par with what the GOP did in 2002.
Heilemann suggested three possible descriptors for Trump (click “expand”):
HEILEMANN: Ah, three possibilities, one, delusional. Two, pathological liar. Three, political dingbat.
SCARBOROUGH: Okay. Hold on.
BRZEZINSKI: No, I'd say four, in a corner, angry, deflecting and freaking out about Congress having control over everything that they're going to have to ask him for and he will finally have to give in a way this will be the only time in his life ever — ever — that he has been accountable and he cannot believe — he cannot believe that he has nowhere to go.
(....)
SCARBOROUGH: Mika, you're confusing our contestants at home. Oh, no, but hold on. But there is five for our contestants playing at home.
BRZEZINSKI: What's five?
SCARBOROUGH: All of the above. John Heilemann, if you can, you’ve got the actual key, the answer key.
HEILEMANN: Right.
SCARBOROUGH: Please let our viewers playing at home know what the answer is.
HEILEMANN: I think Mika’s answer is really not a fourth option as much as an explanatory framework for the previous three.
Heilemann added that, for Trump, “the scale of the defeat for the party, the breadth of it and the implications of it have finally sunken in and the more they sink in for him the more he goes into delusional dingbatery.”
Scarborough repeatedly used the term “delusional dingbattery” to describe Trump’s psyche to Commentary’s Noah Rothman, making a valid point about approval ratings but neglecting the reality that presidents aren’t elected on the basis of the popular vote:
You can’t win if you have low presidential approval ratings in the 40s. History shows where this is going to end up. I do wonder, John Heilemann said — he talked about political dingbattery and I think Edmund Burke first wrote that in Reflections, but this political dingbattery I think is natural for a guy that didn't plan on winning the presidency, didn't expect on winning the presidency and really never bothered to figure out the basics of politics 101, that you win by getting 51 percent of the vote, you lose when you’re like in the low to mid 40s.
To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Morning Joe on November 19, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
November 19, 2018
6:00 a.m. EasternMIKA BRZEZINSKI: Well, we learned a lot from the President over the weekend, that Republicans had a great victory in the midterms.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Oh. Baghdad Bob-ing again.
BRZESINSKI: Fantastic.
SCARBOROUGH: Yes, yes.
(....)
6:01 a.m. Eastern
BRZEZINSKI: What a weekend of Trumpisms and —
SCARBOROUGH: Well, you know, he took the Trumpisms and —
BRZEZINSKI: It’s going to become a word forever.
SCARBOROUGH: — some would say, no the me, but some would say he took crazy to 11 if we want to borrow parlance from spinal tap. He just — ten is loud, ten is crazy. He turned it up to 11 on the dial and there's so much to go through here. A lot of disturbing things, a lot of things just showing a guy even more out of touch than usual, if that's even possible. Why don't we start, Mika, which talking about — we will go through all of this.
BRZEZINSKI: Okay.
SCARBOROUGH: A lot of news to cover. But first about Donald Trump denying that the Republicans who had their worst loss since Watergate —
BRZEZINSKI: Right.
SCARBOROUGH: — actually lost at all.
BRZEZINSKI: Well, Democrats extended their gains in the House over the weekend as more races were called in their favor.
SCARBOROUGH: Wait. Wait. You mean even more races, Mika —
BRZEZINSKI: Oh, yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: — went Democratic?
BRZEZINSKI: It's a wave.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, my gosh.
BRZEZINSKI: The latest count is 37 seats added to their caucus with three still undecided. That number goes along with significant gains in state governments all over the country. Democrats won the national popular vote in the House by at least 7.7 percentage points.
SCARBOROUGH: That's a lot.
BRZEZINSKI: According to the Cook Political Report’s running tabulation, they estimate the number could go as high as nine points. But in an interview with Fox —
SCARBOROUGH: You know, also, Democrats picked up more governor seats
BRZEZINSKI: They did.
SCARBOROUGH: — than either party since 1994, almost a quarter century. Oh, my gosh, I forgot, they also — Republicans lost over 330 state legislative seats.
BRZEZINSKI: It was a resounding rebuke.
SCARBOROUGH: Far worse than — I mean, this is historic as far as just how badly Trump Republicans did and no doubt it's got to sting.
BRZEZINSKI: Yeah, it's a large —
SCARBOROUGH: I'm sure he's looking inside saying, do you know what?
BRZEZINSKI: How much did I lose?
SCARBOROUGH: I destroyed the careers of 37, 38 members of Congress, I destroyed the careers of seven Republican governors, I destroyed the careers of over 300 Republicans in state legislative races. I must look inward and examine myself, Donald Trump, and figure out how I could do better two years from now. Is that what he did?
BRZEZINSKI: No. No. In an interview with Fox News, President Trump insisted that the election was a far greater victory for Republicans.
SCARBOROUGH: What? This is a shock.
[TRUMP CLIP]
SCARBOROUGH: Nobody — nobody ever talks about that. John Heilemann,
BRZEZINSKI: Whoa!
SCARBOROUGH — I mean, Republicans pick up seats in the Senate, that never happens ever.
BRZEZINSKI: It’s historic.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, wait, yeah, George W. Bush did it. But, again, to put it — oh, there you go. Put it in proper perspective, nobody almost ever does it. Two presidents ago did it.
JOHN HEILEMANN: Right.
SCARBOROUGH: This was a complete shellacking by Trump Republicans and also if he wants to even look at the Senate, my God, they had a historic advantage, probably should have picked up five, six, seven seats, but while Donald Trump saying this, Chris Wallace isn't believing it and really no Republicans on Capitol Hill at this point are believing it ever. They know that this was a devastating loss for Trump Republicanism. So why does he just keep saying it? Why does he just keep lying?
HEILEMANN: Ah, three possibilities, one, delusional. Two, pathological liar. Three, political dingbat.
SCARBOROUGH: Okay. Hold on.
BRZEZINSKI: No, I'd say four, in a corner, angry, deflecting and freaking out about Congress having control over everything
HEILEMANN: Sure. Sure. Sure.
BRZEZINSKI: — that they're going to have to ask him for and he will finally have to give in a way this will be the only time in his life ever —
SCARBOROUGH: Okay. Sure. Thank you so much.
BRZEZINSKI: — ever —
SCARBOROUGH: Sure.
BRZEZINSKI: — that he has been accountable and he cannot believe —
SCARBOROUGH: Okay.
BRZEZINSKI: — he cannot believe —
SCARBOROUGH: Mika —
HEILEMANN: Sure.
BRZEZINSKI: — that he has nowhere to go.
HEILEMANN: I think he’s just —
SCARBOROUGH: — Mika, you're confusing our contestants at home. Oh, no, but hold on. But there is five for our contestants playing at home.
BRZEZINSKI: What's five?
SCARBOROUGH: All of the above. John Heilemann, if you can, you’ve got the actual key, the answer key.
HEILEMANN: Right.
SCARBOROUGH: Please let our viewers playing at home know what the answer is.
HEILEMANN: I think Mika’s answer is really not a fourth option as much as an explanatory framework for the previous three.
SCARBOROUGH: Exactly. Exactly.
HEILEMANN: Like what’s going on in the background, Mika, as is often the case Mika is trying to elevate the conversation and provide a why, which is important, but I would say, four, therefore, if that Mika's thing was not four, yours, Joe, four, all of the above, I think that you got the answer, as often is the case, you’re the — you’re one who got it. All of the above. You know, I've stopped trying to disentangle them. You know, yes, desperate, scared, frightened, realizing, I think, for the first time after — I — you know, this is not a new observation. We, for a couple years, you looked to Trump's behavior and said he doesn't seem to think what will happen to him if he loses one or both houses of Congress in the midterms.
SCARBOROUGH: Right.
HEILEMANN: So, he did a lot of irrational things over the course of the two years. We noted it at the time and it does feel as though in the — or as it has for all of us, only we all got there a little quicker, the scale of the defeat for the party, the breadth of it and the implications of it have finally sunken in and the more they sink in for him the more he goes into delusional dingbattery.
SCARBOROUGH: Yes. Delusional dingbattery. Chuck Schumer said: “He’s really hurting Democrats won 7 Senate seats in states that Trump won in 2016.” And yes, that does have to sting. You know, Noah Rothman, though, I was thinking over the weekend about something that I think because — and, by the way, here we go. Here’s the Senate elections, Democrats defended 26, only lost four. Republicans defended nine, lost two. Actually, if you look at it Democrats actually better — had a better winning percentage if you're looking at such things. But Noah Rothman, I was just thinking about it this weekend that, again, we have all said it around this table for two years now, but a lot of people in the media that didn't see Trump coming the first time were saying, oh, my God, he is going to get away with it again, he always gets away with this. A lot of liberal bloggers were like, oh my God, he — it's almost like he had magic pixie dust and we kept saying you can't win with 40 percent of the country supporting you, that means 60 percent of the country is against you. You can’t win if you have low presidential approval ratings in the 40s. History shows where this is going to end up. I do wonder, John Heilemann said — he talked about political dingbattery and I think Edmund Burke first wrote that in Reflections, but this political dingbattery I think is natural for a guy that didn't plan on winning the presidency, didn't expect on winning the presidency and really never bothered to figure out the basics of politics 101, that you win by getting 51 percent of the vote, you lose when you’re like in the low to mid 40s.
