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It Was One Long, Problematic Morning for 'Morning Joe'

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  May 02, 2024
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

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Anti-Social Media – MSNBC / Scarborough

  • This may be the first accurate thing spoken on the air in years.

In what has to be seen as a rare moment of lucidity from Joe Scarborough, he went on a rant this morning about the college protests. In his diatribe, the host railed against those supporting the riots, calling his own listeners "too stupid" if they cannot see the folly of these uprisings.

But do not fall into thinking that Scar-Joe has finally come to his senses. The entire reason he lashed out – going so far as to tell those holdouts to change the channel – is that he realizes these campus demonstrations and riots are severely impacting Joe Biden's prospects in November.

Low-Octane Gaslighting – MSNBC - Deutch

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  • It is left to us to decide which one is the lesser "expert."

It would not be an MSNBC broadcast without some level of dystopian promises belched on the air. Scar-Joe went into that practiced approach and then threw it to regular chair-warmer, Donny Deutch:

He says what he’s going to do. What he’s going to do, to your point Joe, is have the FCC report to him. So he will be able to control shows like this one. He wants the FCC to report to him.

Neither man understands that regarding cable television, the FCC is only in a position to govern signaling, carriage properties, and similar connectivity issues – but being a subscriber service means they have no governance over the broadcast content. So no, Joey and Donny – Trump will not be able to control your show.

Pathological Media Amnesia – MSNBC - Scarborough

  • You people need to stop doing the things I have been doing for some time now.

Another sign that Scar-Joe is reaching desperation levels is the way he needs to depart from his usual narratives because of the sliding fortunes of his confidant, Joe Biden. Speaking with regular guest Jen Palmieri, he wanted to address an issue that the morning host must see as something leading to diminishing returns. 

He turned to Jen and suggested that the level of insults being delivered in news outlets toward Trump supporters is a mistaken approach that should be curtailed:

You know, Jen, there is a stereotype of the Trump voter that the media does. Oh, people are stumbling drunk out of their trailer park and, you know, shooting raccoons or something like that. No, it's bankers. It's lawyers. It's people with advanced degrees.

Yes, Joey, how DARE these news outlets describe Trump voters as backwoods hicks who have to go out on the back-40 to hunt for their dinner!

Where did they get this stance from, anyway?!

Ummm…maybe from listening to you. Scarborough has for himself a history of delivering this precise type of insult. 

It was just a few months ago that he looked over Rep. James Comer and his committee investigating Hunter Biden and delivered this rather stereotyped description of the congressman:

Comer and his gang are running for the hills. In their coon hats, holding a squirrel fryer in their left hand and a shotgun in the right!

Pathological Media Amnesia – MSNBC - Brzezinski

  • Al, how DARE you invoke the very thing…that she had just invoked?

In another segment, Al Sharpton came on to discuss the riots and apparently violated protocol. Even though the show's namesake is able to be critical of the protests (sort of), the reverend apparently crossed a line that should not be crossed, based on the dramatics seen by Mika Brzezinski.

One is inclined to suggest this is a hysterical reaction. Making this all the more mirthful though is this comment Ms. Scarborough provided on the issue. Bear this in mind – it was two days ago.

At that time, Mika was dismayed by the visuals and made this comment:

What are these universities doing? Why aren't they doing something? And I'll echo the horror that this does look like January 6th. What a terrible example for our students. 

Presentation Paradox – MSNBC - Production

  • Their breaking news system appears broken.

Not long ago, the decision was made to extend the "Morning Joe" broadcast to four hours each day. As part of this arrangement, the decision was made that at the halfway mark, there would be a block where prior segments would be rerun, giving the panelists time for a break. This led to a rather questionable result concerning the developments seen last night at UCLA. The portion selected for this repeat involved when they presented BREAKING news at the start of the program, and while presenting what was roughly hours old news as a LIVE segment, it also saw Mika referencing what time it was incorrectly.