Morning Joe on MSNBC went into meltdown on Friday with a series of guests declaring President Joe Biden should give up the race, and a clearly emotional feeling Mika Brzezinski—who said he has known the president for 50 years—struggling to come to terms with what happened on the debate stage
Joe Scarborough himself suggested that perhaps it was time for Democrats to tell Biden he was “done” after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
Invoking the spirit of Barry Goldwaterthe Republican who played a key role in persuading Richard Nixon to resign after Watergate, Scarborough said, “Where’s Barry Goldwater? To walk and count Richard Nixon It’s over… now the question is: Do Democrats need to do the same thing as Joe Biden?”
Scarborough said: “We have to ask (Biden) the same questions that we have been asking Donald Trump since 2016, which is, if he were CEO and performed like this, would any company in America, any Fortune 500 Corporation in America, keep him as CEO?”
He said the issue was not “love” and “respect” for Biden, but rather whether he could win the presidency because “failure is not an option.”
Scarborough continued: “Donald Trump has lied repeatedly, and Joe Biden has failed to respond to any of those lies. In fact, as the New York Times said, he spent much of the night with his mouth open… he missed one tray after another after another.
“He failed to respond effectively to Donald Trump’s attempt to overthrow American democracy on January 6, he failed to respond effectively to Donald Trump’s continued stream of lies about his own record, and he failed to even respond effectively to the issue of abortion, where, for some reason, he threw himself wildly into the issue of immigration.”
Scarborough said of Biden: “Tragically, he did not rise to the occasion last night.”
Willie Geist chimed in, saying, “Normal people, people who don’t watch cable news every day, people who aren’t on Twitter, people who don’t absorb politics like we do, watched it last night and said, ‘Oh my God, no. I think he’s prepared for that.
“Your worst fears were confirmed.”
Geist mentioned other potential candidates and said, “I heard Kamala Harris’ name a lot last night. I heard Gavin Newsom’s name a lot last night, I heard Gov. Josh Shapiro’s name last night.”
He said the message from both “party members” and “regular people” is that “Joe Biden now cannot beat Donald Trump.”
Brzezinski appeared in shock but said it was too early to remove the president. “Biden had a terrible night. He couldn’t think, not even the final statement, which is the easiest part. He writes a few words. Go ahead, think (but) I’m not ready to give up on Joe Biden, not even close,” she said.
She admitted, however: “It was terrible. It was terrible. There’s no turning it around.”
Scarborough responded: “If this debate doesn’t lead to serious discussions between Democrats and the president, then what you’re going to end up with is kind of a frozen political situation.”
He said the situation was not a case of “democratic bed-wetting” but “a war… a political battle for democracy.”
He said the debate was akin to “losing a major battle” and said it was reasonable for people in such circumstances to ask “whether this general is prepared to lead the troops the rest of the way.”
Scarborough said: “This is nothing personal. If we believe what we believe, I would do that to my mother. I would do that to my mother if I believed she was getting in the way of our goals.”
He added: “I’m not saying everything happens today and maybe we wait a week. I’m just saying personal feelings – admiration, love, respect, honor, all the things I talked about in my feelings about Joe Biden, Jill Biden and his family, which Mika and his family have felt for Joe Biden for 50 years – cannot play a role in any of this.
“This is a battle for the future of American democracy…this is the last opportunity for Democrats to decide whether this man we have long known and loved is up to the task of running for president of the United States.”
Get the Daily Beast’s biggest news and scandals delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now.
Stay informed and get unlimited access to the Daily Beast’s unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
