Following violence and unrest at a Donald Trump for President rally in Chicago on Friday night, Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle and Joe Scarborough discuss Trump’s irresponsible rhetoric: “These rallies are now both dangerous and depressing,” says Barnicle. “Donald Trump entered this campaign known by most people for two words on TV, ‘you’re fired!’ Now he’s known by a multitude of people for a few more words, ‘get them out of here!’ And it’s the way he says it. A candidate, at a minimum level, has an obligation not to use his or her presence, his or her words on the stump, to incite a riot—and that’s what’s happening, multiple times a day at Trump rallies. He has an obligation to say, “pump the brakes…. Let’s all calm down.’” Hear the MSNBC conversation here.
In his latest column for The Daily Beast, Mike Barnicle resurrects a prescient message delivered by Bobby Kennedy to an angry America in 1968 — one that serves as a much needed distinction and reminder of what true leadership and greatness really mean in a time of increasing violent tensions, currently at campaign rallies for Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump.
“The weekend’s eruptions were nothing new,” writes Mike. “The flame has been simmering for months, the low fire burning beneath the surface as the candidate arrives with an arsonist’s vocabulary… He focuses on the weakest elements of human nature: envy, anxiety and apprehension of what might happen.”
In contrast, then candidate Robert Kennedy, just hours after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, reminded America that “too often we honor swagger and bluster and the wielders of force and too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others.” Read Mike’s column here and find meaning in the words of RFK.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/13/what-bobby-kennedy-would-say-to-trump.html
Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle talks with The Atlantic’s national correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg about his exclusive and insightful conversations with President Barack Obama on foreign policy decisions. “Reading the piece, I alternated between frustration with the President and a deep sense of comfort in that he does really think about these things. Do you think—in the course of these conversations for an incredible, lengthy piece—he thinks too much about it?,” Barnicle asks Goldberg about the President’s process in evaluating foreign policy options. Watch Barnicle and the panel’s full discussion on the Obama doctrine and read Goldberg’s article at https://theatln.tc/1UUZ50W.
As part of the 92nd Street Y’s 7 Days of Genius Festival, author Rob Bell talks with Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle about his new book, “How To Be Here,” which embraces the joys of living in the moment. Visit MSNBC’s site at www.msnbc.com/genius to learn more about the second consecutive year of inspiring conversations with thought-leaders in the fields of politics, science and morality focused on the transformative power of genius to change the world for the better.
Ahead of the Morning Joe exclusive Town Hall event hosted by Willie Geist and featuring Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich, Mike Barnicle talks with MSNBC’s Jacob Soboroff, live from Cleveland, about Kasich’s “Hail Mary” campaign efforts in his home state. Watch the exchange between “Mr. Barnicle” and Soboroff and get an up-close look at Governor Kasich’s ground operations in Ohio.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle and Bloomberg Politics’ John Heilemann and Mark Halperin discuss Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) chances in Florida following the latest Republican presidential debate, as well as the reason why Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is a real threat to Democrats in a general election battle. Watch the discussion on Senator Rubio’s fight in his home state and Trump’s “apostasy” here.
In discussing CNN’s Republican presidential debate last night, Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle challenges political reporter Mike Halperin’s high grade for Donald Trump’s performance. “As we continue to contest Mark Halperin’s grading system here, one of the things that Donald Trump said last night that would cause me to give him less than an ‘A’ was his response to Jake Tapper’s question about the tone and tenor of the rallies that he has. ‘Do they engender the violence that sometimes takes place?’ And Donald Trump said, ‘I hope not,’” and that’s why I would give him a ‘B’ at a minimum,” says Mike of Trump’s answer on the violent incidents that have occurred at his campaign rallies. Watch the conversation with Bloomberg’s Halperin and John Heilemann, Yahoo’s Bianna Golodryga and The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson on Trump’s debate performance.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle talks with former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Howard Dean and elections law attorney Ben Ginsberg, a former RNC general counsel and national counsel to the George W. Bush and Mitt Romney presidential campaigns, about the possibility of a contested convention for the Republican presidential nomination. ”What are the odds of a bag job occurring in Cleveland?,” asks Mike of the upcoming 2016 Republican National Convention. Watch the full conversation on the delegate battle and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s chances heading into the convention.
“Do you think we are paying enough attention to the dismantling—right in front of us—of the Republican party?,” Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle asks former chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele following President Barack Obama’s comments on the “Republican crack-up.” Listen to what Steele answers and the conversation between him, Barnicle and a flock of seagulls.
As violence continues to be a component at rallies for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle discusses Trump’s role in enabling the violent episodes. “Donald Trump’s rhetoric emboldens the crowd in front of him. It’s not what he says, it’s how he says it. It’s a show that he puts on for the people assembled there, but there is an element to the show where he does embolden people to behave the way we’ve seen. He says he hopes he doesn’t do that, but the reality is that it happens around him,” says Mike. Watch the MSNBC Morning Joe conversation and report on the anger and aggressiveness being found at Trump rallies.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle talks with journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, former DNC chairman Howard Dean and former RNC chairman Michael Steele about the surprising civility among the candidates in Thursay night’s Republican presidential debate. “All four of the candidates on that stage looked as if they were tired of these debates, that they were exhausted, they didn’t want to be there,” says Mike of remaining GOP candidates Donald Trump, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Ohio Governor John Kasich. Watch the conversation among the MSNBC panelists on the issues and demeanor of the debate.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle asks former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina about the state of her party’s race for the White House. “The language and the conduct of several of the candidates, specifically Donald Trump, has been bothersome to a lot of people. Do you believe that the candidates who are left, including your candidate now Ted Cruz, have an obligation, perhaps even a moral obligation, to speak out about the language and the tenor of this campaign that emboldens so many people across this country to believe things like ‘Islam does hate us’?,” asks Mike. Watch the discussion here and listen to Fiorina answer by expressing her support for Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).
“Seemingly, to the ears of many Americans, political campaigns in this country are becoming big and dangerous in the words that are being used. And words are sometimes more dangerous than dynamite. Does the extent of the dialogue and the contempt for so many things, outside and within America, among the candidates as they speak bother you?,” asks Mike Barnicle of former U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Watch the exchange between former Senator Coburn and Barnicle about political leadership and ignored issues.
On Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle and the panel discuss whether or not Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump will eventually assemble a foreign policy team and launch a second act as he inches closer to his party’s nomination. Observes Barnicle: “Donald has been flying solo throughout his entire professional career as a business man, and now as a politician. If he wasn’t flying solo he wouldn’t be on TV last night saying during that interview that Islam hates us.” Hear the rest of the conversation here.
“Marco Rubio’s planning and thoughts about running for President are clearly rooted in personal ambition—at the expense of organization. We’ve seen it in Iowa, in New Hampshire and we’re seeing it right now with the pathetically sad picture of the empty end zone in his home state as a sitting U.S. Senator,” says Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle of Republican candidate Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and his campaign’s failure to gain enough supporters at this point in the race, defined by the Senator’s disappointing rally at a football stadium in Hialeah, Florida. Hear more about Rubio’s failed strategies and Election 2016 on MSNBC.
On MSNBC, Mike Barnicle and the Morning Joe panel discuss Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s handling of the controversies and legal issues that continue to encumber her campaign. “In addition to her not answering the question [on possibly being indicted over the email scandal]—no one would answer a question like that—she was hit point-blank on Benghazi by [Jorge Ramos] asking if she lied to the families of those lost. I thought she handled that very effectively,” says Barnicle of Clinton’s performance during last night’s The Washington Post/Univision Democratic debate. Watch the discussion about Clinton, along with a report on the Republican National Committee’s decision to sue the U.S. State Department for Hillary Clinton and her aides’ emails and messages during her tenure as Secretary of State.
Ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to The White House, the first state visit by a Canadian leader in nearly 20 years, Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle asks Canada’s Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freeland about Canada’s position on the yet-to-be-ratified Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Watch the exchange here and listen to Minister Freeland’s thoughts on free trade between the U.S., Canada and the rest of the world. On MSNBC.
Following another of what Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle called “enlightening” Democratic presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders last night, Barnicle, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski discuss the vast differences in rhetoric between Democrats and Republicans, including Hillary Clinton’s ongoing issues with voters. “There are two electoral maps that are instructive as to the difficulty her campaign is now in the middle of coping with—one is from Massachusetts and the other is from Michigan, Democratic strongholds in a sense. Bernie Sanders carries, across the board, working class people and young people… while Clinton, despite being in politics for 30 years, has trouble addressing her message to that group of people. She’s losing them—and that does not bode well for her in the fall,” says Barnicle. Hear the rest of the conversation here.
“Nobody cares about Marco Rubio anymore. He has lost control of his image, of who Marco Rubio is,” says Mike Barnicle about Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and his presidential campaign’s dismal primary poll numbers, including lack of support in his home state of Florida. Watch the MSNBC Morning Joe conversation on Rubio and listen to why Barnicle believes the Republican presidential contest remains a three-man race between Ohio Governor John Kasich, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and frontrunner Donald Trump.
Mike Barnicle talks with Ohio Governor and Republication presidential candidate John Kasich on Morning Joe, when Mike asks him: “You and the other candidates have had a series of debates… as most of the other candidates just absolutely pummeled Donald Trump, making him out to be the worst guy in the universe. And yet, at the end of the debates, at the end of the day, each of you were asked: ‘Would you support the Republican nominee if it’s Donald Trump?’ And you all say, ‘yes, absolutely.’ Do you really mean that?,” Listen to Governor Kasich’s answer here and find out how he feels about the prospects of taking his presidential campaign all the way to the Republican National Convention.
