It seems bizarre that Morning Joe seems to be reverting to some version of 2015, suggesting that somehow Donald Trump is invincible against all Republican opponents. On Thursday's show, Joe Scarborough blustered that Ron DeSantis could not hope to win the GOP nomination unless he skips all debates with Trump.
"Charlie Crist made him look foolish" in last year's campaign, claimed Scarborough. Yeah, so "foolish" that DeSantis crushed Crist by a record-breaking margin!
Then he added "DeSantis really is another Florida governor that's going to get crushed by Donald Trump. "
All-knowing Joe insisted "his best shot, and I mean this, he's got to bow out of all the debates. He's got to say, 'I don't need to debate that guy. That guy's crazy. I don't want to hear about him hating his kids.' No, I'm saying, he can't take him one-on-one on the debate stage. He just can't. So, do what Republicans are talking about doing in the general election: don't do debates! That's his only shot."
There was no pushback from his team of toadies.
Jonathan Lemire, the host of Way Too Early on MSNBC, weirdly suggested that DeSantis will not enter the race: "He's not in, not gonna get in. And the danger here is, if you remain silent like this, you let your opponent define the race. And the opponent is Donald Trump, who's defined the race by bludgeoning him each and every day."
No one on the panel disputed Lemire's stunning assertion. Then Scarborough suggested that DeSantis copy the Cowardly Katie Hobbs strategy in the Arizona gubernatorial race, where she refused to debate her GOP opponent Kari Lake. As Scarborough noted, despite the criticism Hobbs took from all corners, she ultimately won and is governor today. (If you remember Morning Joe publicly doubting the Hobbs no-debate strategy last fall, let us know.)
So, is Lemire's claim that DeSantis won't get in the race serious political analysis . . . or the gambit of an agent provocateur trying to undermine the candidacy of someone seen by the liberal media as the greatest threat to the eventual Democrat candidate? Who would the MSM/Dems rather run against: DeSantis, or Trump? It seems pretty obvious they want a rerun.
The Morning Joe clairvoyance on DeSantis being crushed by Trump in debates was sponsored in part by GoDaddy.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
3/20/23
6:23 am EDTJOHN HEILEMANN: Katty's right. I think there is a window [for Ron DeSantis.] He's going to have to go on the debate stage against Donald Trump. How does Ron DeSantis do against Chris Christie? Against --
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Charlie Crist.
HEILEMANN: Yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: Charlie Crist made him look foolish.
HEILEMANN: And Andrew Gillum!
SCARBOROUGH: And Andrew Gillum--I know. That's why, I got to say, I just -- DeSantis really is another Florida governor that's going to get crushed by Donald Trump.
You know, if DeSantis runs against Trump, Jonathan Lemire, his best shot, and I mean this, he's got to bow out of all the debates. He's got to say, I don't need to debate that guy. That guy's crazy. I don't want to hear about him hating his kids. No, I'm saying, he can't take him one-on-one on the debate stage. He just can't. So, do what Republicans are talking about doing in the general election: don't do debates! That's his only shot.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Yeah. I mean, the Republican apparatus does seem, at least part of the establishment, wanting to rally around DeSantis. We know his super PACS hired some top-name, big-name operatives. There's going to be some fundraising that's going to come. They're making optimistic noises about.
But he's not in. He's not gonna get in. And the danger here is, if you remain silent like this, you let your opponent define the race. And the opponent is Donald Trump, who's defined the race by bludgeoning him each and every day.
SCARBOROUGH: Obrigado [thanks, in Portugese.] Alex [Korson, Morning Joe executive producer] just gave me the name that is the future.
LEMIRE: Yeah?
SCARBOROUGH: You ghost your opponent. You become the Katie Hobbs of the Republican party [laughter on panel.]
I'm going to go home and sit in my living room.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: That's not what she did, but okay.
SCARBOROUGH: And watch reruns of The Sopranos.
MIKA: That's not what she did.
SCARBOROUGH: No, she did!
MIKA: She did events, but she did not do debates.
SCARBOROUGH: Let's not rewrite history.
MIKA: I'm not. I'm just bringing some --
SCARBOROUGH: She's the governor.
MIKA: She is the governor. She won.
JENNIFER PALMIERI: I doubted her strategy, and it worked.
SCARBOROUGH: By the way, everybody doubted her. Democrats. And by the way, what did you say about Katie Hobbs [inaudible, imitating someone's voice]? Only repeating what every Democrat in Arizona told me, what every journalist told me.
MIKA: It seemed also to make sense, like [inaudible.]
HEILEMANN: I look forward to the moment when the DeSantis campaign announces it's following the Katie Hobbs strategy in taking on Donald Trump. I'm looking forward to that moment when they background to reporters: hey, you know, it worked for Katie Hobbs against Kari Lake. So we're going to do it against Trump. It's a good idea! I like it.
