Scarborough: ‘Decoy Dan’ Story a ‘Yawn’ Next to Musk Killing 'Thousands' in Ukraine’

Mika Brzezinski Joe Scarborough Katty Kay MS NOW Morning Joe 10-29-26

Looks like Joe Scarborough has been doing his stretching exercises.

Because on Thursday’s Morning Joe, Scarborough pulled off a piece of contortion that would make Gumby jealous. He admitted that Alaska Democrats putting a second Dan Sullivan—aka “Decoy Dan”—on the ballot to dilute votes for the real Dan Sullivan, the Republican senator, was bad—but not surprising.

Ben Smith of Semafor had just laid out the New York Times reporting: Peltola’s campaign was “just absolutely lying to everybody about how the second guy named Dan Sullivan found his way onto the ballot,” which they called a “funny coincidence” but which actually involved “a statewide search for everyone named Dan Sullivan” until they found one on an island willing to run.

Scarborough’s response:

“Good for the New York Times, getting the story out there when voters needed to hear about it again. 

Maybe it’s cause I come from the land of W.D. Childers. Maybe it’s cause I come from northwest Florida. You know, W.D. says I want all your money and I want all your votes. I don’t care where they come from, blah, blah, blah. I mean, maybe that’s because, you know, like the people that I, like, this is not a, this story is not surprising to me… I’m not saying it’s not bad, and I’m glad again. Voters have this information before they go out and vote in Alaska, but I gotta say, in northwest Florida, they would yawn.”

Scarborough somehow then twisted to Trump and Musk, and made a stunning accusation:

Turning Ukraine over to Vladimir Putin  [and] having your friend [Musk] turn Starlink down so thousands of Ukrainians are battered and killed. That’s surprising to me.”

The BBC's "special correspondent" Katty Kay was right there with Joe. The ballot-stacking “doesn’t seem that big” next to “all of the other egregious things, bombing Iran, going into an unnecessary war, driving gas prices up, having a tariff war with our closest ally, Canada.” So, per Katty: compared with those other horrors, Democrats recruiting a decoy Dan Sullivan to peel votes from the real one is small ball.

Morning Joe did its best to downplay the Decoy Dan scandal. The Democrats' scheme to stack the ballot and dilute the Republican’s vote is something northwest Florida would “yawn” at. Trump having Musk turn down Starlink so that “thousands of Ukrainians are battered and killed” is the real shocker.

Somewhere, James Carville is smiling: “Look ovah he-ah: a satellite!”

Here’s the transcript.

MS NOW
Morning Joe
10/29/26
6:37 am EDT

BEN SMITH: And this is an incredible, and maybe sort of only in Alaska, yarn that the Times has of, of Peltola’s campaign, just absolutely lying to everybody about how the second guy named Dan Sullivan found his way onto the ballot. Which they had said was just a funny coincidence, and in fact involved like a statewide search for everyone named Dan Sullivan, whom there are like a lot in Alaska, and they found one on an island who was, who was willing to run.

. . .

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Good for the New York Times, getting the story out there when voters needed to hear about it again. 

Maybe it’s cause I come from the land of W.D. Childers. Maybe it’s cause I come from northwest Florida. You know, W.D. says I want all your money and I want all your votes. I don’t care where they come from, blah, blah, blah. 

I mean, maybe that’s because, you know, like the people that I, like, [yells, pounds desk] this is not,  this story is not surprising to me!

EUGENE ROBINSON: Nor to me, and I’m from South Carolina.

SCARBOROUGH: Turning Ukraine over to Vladimir Putin. Now that’s surprising.

 MIKA BRZEZINSKI: And having your friend turn the Starlink down.

SCARBOROUGH: Having your friend turn Starlink down.

MIKA: And making them take the credit for it.

SCARBOROUGH: So, so thousands of Ukrainians are, are, are battered and killed. That’s surprising to me!

Like, this is not surprising me. I’m not saying it’s not bad, and I’m glad, again, voters have this information before they go out and vote in Alaska. But I gotta say, in northwest Florida, they would yawn.

KATTY KAY: Yeah, I mean, look, when you put it in the context of all of the other egregious things: bombing Iran, going into an unnecessary war, driving gas prices up, having a tariff war with our closest ally, Canada, this doesn’t seem that big.