Anyone who has witnessed Morning Joe in recent years has surely seen co-host Mika Brzezinski drooling over Elizabeth Warren. The June 5 edition of the program was no different. Reacting to Rick Perry’s announcement that he is running for president in 2016, Brzezinski cheered the former Texas governor’s populist message. After playing a clip of Perry saying the “American people see a rigged game where the insiders get rich [and] the middle class pays the tab,” Brzezinski couldn’t contain her excitement. She shouted, “It’s Elizabeth! It’s Elizabeth! It’s Elizabeth!”
Of course, the MSNBC personality was referring to far-left senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who has become known for her anti-Wall Street, anti-business rhetoric. Co-host Joe Scarborough was quick to mock Brzezinski for her long lasting obsession with Warren: “You know what, Elizabeth Warren said she likes chocolate cake, and now everyone likes chocolate cake!”
(In April, she excitedly held up an Elizabeth Warren T-shirt, promising: “I’m wearing that running.”)
Brzezinski attempted to explain herself, saying she “likes people who address income inequality.” Scarborough noted that plenty of people, including many Republicans, have addressed income inequality in the past and added that it’s “not all about Elizabeth Warren.”
Mika reluctantly agreed, but thought that Perry “really sound[s] like her right now.” Mika declared that Republicans “are finally getting it that this bothers people. They’re finally getting what she’s been saying for years and years and years. It’s actually selling now.”
The Morning Joe co-host’s obsession with Elizabeth Warren is nothing new. Back in April, Brzezinski received a t-shirt of the Massachusetts senator on set. Her reaction, to say the least, was ecstatic.
The relevant portion of the transcript is below.
MSNBC's Morning Joe
June 5, 2015
6:11 a.m. EasternRICK PERRY: There is no person on Earth more optimistic than a dry land cotton farmer. We always know that a good rain is just around the corner. To those Americans who – those I might add forgotten Americans drowning in personal debt, working harder for wages that don't keep up with the rising cost of living, I came here today to say I hear you. To the one in five children in families who are on food stamps, to the one in seven Americans living in poverty, to the one in ten workers who are unemployed, underemployed, or just giving up hope of finding a job, I hear you. You are not forgotten. The American people, they see this rigged game where the insiders get rich [and] the middle class pays the tab. There is something wrong when the Dow is near record highs and businesses on main street can't even get a loan. Since when did capitalism involve elimination of risk for the biggest banks while regulations strangle our community banks?
JOE SCARBOROUGH, co-host: Amen. Amen.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: It’s Elizabeth! It's Elizabeth! It’s Elizabeth!
SCARBOROUGH: Well, Elizabeth Warren is not the only person who has said this–
BRZEZINSKI: It doesn’t look like Elizabeth, but it sounds like Elizabeth.
SCARBOROUGH (in a mocking tone): You know what, Elizabeth Warren said she likes chocolate cake, and now everybody likes chocolate cake!
BRZEZINSKI: I like people who want to address income inequality. I don’t know if he means it.
SCARBOROUGH: I've been talking about it for a long time.
BRZEZINSKI: Yes you have.
SCARBOROUGH: There are other Republicans – Alan Greenspan said four years ago that income inequality was the greatest threat to American capitalism.
BRZEZINSKI: Who has done anything about it? Who do you think in the Republican Party can really do anything out it?
SCARBOROUGH: Well, I just – are we going to have to listen to you every time somebody says something about income inequality, it’s Elizabeth Warren? It’s not all Elizabeth Warren.
BRZEZINSKI: No, it’s not, but boy it does sound like her right now, doesn’t he? And why is he doing it?
SCARBOROUGH: No. I’ll tell you why he’s doing it. Because the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, the middle class is getting squeezed. The working class –
BRZEZINSKI: And they're finally getting it.
SCARBOROUGH: The working class is getting left behind.
BRZEZINSKI: They’re finally getting it that this bothers people. They’re finally getting what she’s been saying for years and years and years. It’s actually selling now.
