Are we in 2023? Or are we back in 2015? Because Joe Scarborough is back to touting Donald Trump as a juggernaut, as the heavyweight boxing champ of Republicans. This is the same pundit who couldn't stop calling Trump a "fascist" not too long ago.
On today's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough suggested that DeSantis and his appeal is akin to Jeb Bush in 2015: someone loved by the big-business donor class, but who can't stand up to Trump. Scarborough predicted that DeSantis will decide not to run in '24 and skip the Trump "meat grinder," and instead finish his gubernatorial term with sky-high approval ratings, then start preparing a run in 2026 when he doesn't have to worry about facing Trump.
Scarborough picked up on a Muhammad Ali boxing analogy offered by Al Sharpton:
AL SHARPTON: I'll tell you an Ali story. I was at his training camp once in Deer Lake. And I went into, he had different cabins for different purposes and they had one cabin where people were training, and I went into the training cabin. And this guy looked terrific. He was sparring, and he was making all the right moves. And Ali came in slowly, and was standing behind me. And when I noticed he was behind me, I said, champ, this guy's got it, this guy is going to be big. He looked at me, Sharpton, he said, he can throw a great punch. Let's see if he can take a punch. And a minute later, the guy was flat on his back.
And that's what I'm saying [laughter on set] about DeSantis.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Exactly!
SHARPTON: We see DeSantis throwing a lot of punches in Florida. When he gets on that big stage, particularly against Donald Trump, let's see if he can take a real punch....
JOE SCARBOROUGH: I actually -- sometimes sports analogies don't fit tightly. I've got to say here, it fits perfectly. You get two boxers in a ring. You find out really quickly who the champ is and who the pretender is.
You get two people up on the debate stage, and one starts sweating profusely, like you know immediately who the pretender is and who the champ is. And the champ goes in, mocks him for sweating, and then jabs, jabs, jabs. He sweats a little bit more, and then just goes in for the kill. And Trump did that with 16 people in 2016. And, again, I haven't seen anybody that can get in his face, that's good enough to get in his face.
Then Scarborough cited a friend who attended the DeSantis inauguration, and found "business leaders from across the country were flying in. They were lined up as far as you could see to just be in the presence of Ron DeSantis. I said, yeah, and a lot of those guys, they were doing the same thing with Jeb Bush in 2015. So we'll see. Maybe DeSantis can take a punch."
Does Scarborough actually believe his prediction that DeSantis won't run in 2024, or, as seems likely, is he just trying to stir the Republican pot?
People would line up to bet Joe that DeSantis will run for the 2024 nomination. The reasons are obvious: this is DeSantis's moment. He's just coming off a tremendous re-election victory. He's got a ton of money in the campaign bank, with donors lining up to give more. He's established himself as the unquestionable leader in pushing back against the woke establishment. It looks like strike-while-the-iron-is-hot time for Ron DeSantis.
Joe Scarborough analogizing Ron DeSantis to Jeb Bush in 2015, and predicting that DeSantis will skip the 2024 presidential race, waiting until 2026 when he wouldn't have to face Donald Trump, was sponsored in part by United Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline, maker of Theraflu, and Amazon.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
1/20/23
6:39 am ETAL SHARPTON: I'll tell you an Ali story. I was at his training camp once in Deer Lake. And I went into, he had different cabins for different purposes and they had one cabin where people were training, and I went into the training cabin. And this guy looked terrific. He was sparring, and he was making all the right moves. And Ali came in slowly, and was standing behind me. And when I noticed he was behind me, I said, champ, this guy's got it, this guy is going to be big. He looked at me, Sharpton, he said, he can throw a great punch. Let's see if he can take a punch. And a minute later, the guy was flat on his back.
And that's what I'm saying [laughter on set] about DeSantis.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Exactly!
SHARPTON: We see DeSantis throwing a lot of punches in Florida. When he gets on that big stage, particularly against Donald Trump, let's see if he can take a real punch.
. . .
JOE SCARBOROUGH: I actually -- sometimes sports analogies don't fit tightly. I've got to say here, it fits perfectly. You get two boxers in a ring. You find out really quickly who the champ is and who the pretender is.
You get two people up on the debate stage, and one starts sweating profusely, like you know immediately who the pretender is and who the champ is. And the champ goes in, mocks him for sweating, and then jabs, jabs, jabs. He sweats a little bit more, and then just goes in for the kill. And Trump did that with 16 people in 2016. And, again, I haven't seen anybody that can get in his face, that's good enough to get in his face.
I had a good, good friend of mine, a Republican friend, that was at the DeSantis inauguration. And he said business leaders from across the country were flying in. They were lined up as far as you could see to just be in the presence of Ron DeSantis.
I said, yeah, and a lot of those guys, they were doing the same thing with Jeb Bush in 2015. So we'll see. Maybe DeSantis can take a punch.
My guess is, just all of us talking right now, my guess is DeSantis says wait a second, why do I go to the meat grinder that chewed up and spit out 16 Republicans politically? Why don't I let Trump run again? I'll, I'll serve out my term. I'll end up with, you know, 80% approval ratings among Republicans. And then, in '26, I just open my presidential campaign, and I don't have to even take on --
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: -- deal with this.
SCARBOROUGH: -- the champ right. I, I, I think that's probably what he's thinking in Tallahassee. Because I think he knows he does not want to cross Donald Trump on a debate stage.
