“First of all, the country was owed what happened yesterday. This peaceful transition. The acknowledgements from president Obama, speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, (and) Donald Trump…speaking more humanely and more soberly about the job that he is about to takeover. I don’t think …we could look at history and see a time when a peaceful transition was more necessary and needed to be spoken about publicly by the people involved in it,” said Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation about the peaceful transition of power that took place following the election of Donald Trump. Listen to more of the conversation with Barnicle and host Joe Scarborough here.
“The important thing to remember here… while everybody is grabbing the arms of their chairs and squeezing their knuckles in fear or dread, is: Something happens on the way to January 20th. And it’s the first full intel briefing that a president-elect gets and that’s when you realize the expanse of the job, the awesome responsibility of the job, the dangers out there in the world. And that will change Donald J. Trump,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the show’s panel encourages viewers to remain optimistic about the country’s future despite the unexpected victory for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Election Day. Listen in here.
“There was quite a parallel to 2004 with the exit polls that came in the were very encouraging for Senator [John] Kerry’s candidacy. To the point where Bob Shrum…who is a very skilled operative, one of the best in the country, went to John Kerry and… said let be me the first to shake your hand, Mr. President. That was at about a quarter past 9:00 on that evening on Election Day 2004. Last night, I was speaking to someone in the Clinton campaign at about 9:30, they were still very encouraged by exit polling that they were getting from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle about the similarities in the outcome for the Democratic presidential candidates of the 2004 and 2016 elections. Listen to more of the discussion here.
“I’m sure there was a reverse Bradley effect in some quarters. I have no doubt about that, but I think in the country at large there was no reverse Bradley effect. It was just people who were going to vote for Donald Trump no matter what—no matter what he said, no matter what he did and no matter how he behaved. They were determined to vote for Donald Trump, and they were ignored. They were ignored by pollsters. They were ignored by the media. They showed up yesterday in astounding numbers. A wave of people across the country. I think it rendered both political parties in this moment irrelevant,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the show’s panel discusses how Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump became the election victor despite pre-election polls clearly indicating Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton would be the winner. Listen to more of the panel’s thoughts on Trump’s unexpected victory here.
“If you go out in the country to any state, you realize one thing very quickly by talking to people. The country isn’t fragile. We are not fragile. The institutions that have failed us are fragile and are not working, but the country is not fragile,” states Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a panel discussion about the sustainability of our American democracy and the viability of the country. Tune in to hear more the conversation between Barnicle and the show’s host Joe Scarborough.
“Let’s put the torture of this past 18 months of a [presidential] campaign behind us – the dissension, the name calling. This pageant of democracy that we witness today is not only truly extraordinary, but it makes you really proud to be an American citizen. This is an editorial comment: I really resent [Republican presidential candidate] Donald Trump saying that this is a waste of time if he loses. It’s an extraordinary honor to be one of these [presidential] candidates…To be able to go to the country and make your pitch as to why you ought to be president of the United States is an extraordinary honor. And it’s an even bigger honor to be allowed to vote for president of the United States,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the show’s panel expresses its appreciation on Election Day for American democracy and voting rights. Listen to more of the discussion here. Only on MSNBC.
“Mike Barnicle’s piece is just beautiful, and (Vice President) Joe Biden – a wonderful man,” says historian Michael Beschloss in conversation about the Vice President and the column Barnicle wrote for The Daily Beast. Does Biden have regrets about deciding not to run for the presidency? Says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle: “All those ‘what-ifs’ are unanswerable. He chose not to run.” Hear more of the discussion about what regrets Biden might or might not have. Only on MSNBC.
“You get the sense … that (Vice President) Joe Biden symbolizes one of the biggest stories of this campaigns and it’s what happens to both political parties after today. And does it happen that the Democratic party that Joe Biden symbolizes, represents, talks about and articulates: Does it become a party of coastal elites, urban people and college towns? Does the Republican Party become a party of just purely cultural and economic grievances? That’s going to be a huge story going forward. God love Joe Biden. He symbolizes so much of what the Democratic party used to be,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle in a conversation with host Mika Brzezinski, who read an excerpt of Barnicle’s latest column for The Daily Beast about Biden.
“If [FBI Director James Comey] had shown that letter he put out to a decent lawyer, the lawyer would have taken out the word ‘pertinent’ and the letter may have worked,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the show’s panel examines what changes Comey could have made to improve his communication with Congress about the FBI’s additional investigation into the private email server emails of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Replied show host Joe Scarborough: “You’re right…that is the word… ‘pertinent.'” Click for more of the discussion here.
In his latest column for The Daily Beast, Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle writes about his experience as he accompanied Vice President Joe Biden to a rally in Biden’s home state of Pennsylvania. “He is a joyful, hands-on, shoulder-punching, hugging, smiling guy whose idea of a great day is a crowd, an event, a few laughs, and the certitude that his day will end at evening with his family by his side,” writes Barnicle of Biden. Using the analogy of baseball, he describes Biden’s profound speech to the Pennsylvania crowd at the rally. “On the stage, needing no notes, the thoughts filling the hall with a sense of optimism about the future and a ton of scorn for the scorched-earth landscape of the present political campaign, Joe Biden was the closer, coming out of the bullpen throwing fastballs at a time when the public has turned in disgust from spitballs or curves.” Read the whole column here.
“There’s no email story that’s going to help [Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton]. None. Today’s email story does not help her. It’s a constant reminder. She doesn’t need that. The [Clinton email] story has the most impact…on the FBI. At some point…people are going to have to sit down in Washington and decide what is wrong with the FBI,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a panel discussion about FBI Director James Comey’s latest letter to Congress saying that the FBI would not pursue charges against Clinton. Listen in on the conversation here.
“There’s a level of concern in the Clinton campaign…that wasn’t there at the end of last week. I think they….now regard Michigan as a potential Brexit state, Bradley-effect state. There’s really no hard evidence that [Hillary Clinton] is going to win [Michigan] going away or win it at all. The president of the United States is going to Ann Arbor in a last-minute effort to shore up Michigan,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation about the challenges that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton must overcome to win the election. Listen to more of the discussion here.
“The race is tightening. [Clinton’s campaign] doesn’t want to have happen to them what happened to (presidential candidate) John Kerry in 2004 when his campaign ended, and they had about $20 million left in the bank. Spend it. Get it out there. Reinforce what strengths you have in those states. There is a shrinking base of black voters who will come out in support of Hillary Clinton. There’s an increasing awareness among voters as we approach Tuesday [thinking] ‘I don’t like either candidate’….So I would assume spending in those states is targeted to (those) groups: I’m begging you, please, come out and vote,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a panel discussion about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s efforts to win over unconvinced or undecided voters through increasing her ad buys in the final week before the election. Hear more on the discussion here.
“The only sad thing about [this World Series] is there’s not a game 8, 9, 10 and 11 to take us through the weekend,” says Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle at the top of the show, recapping the game. “But we are going to game seven! [The Chicago Cubs’] bats came alive. The kids on the Cubs clearly played a lot looser in Cleveland than they did at home in Chicago.” Listen here to find out who the panel declares will be the big winner in the pivotal game 7 between the Cubs and the Indians.
“That has to be part of (FBI) director Comey’s motivation for issuing the letter because he knew somebody like (The Wall Street Journal’s) Devlin Barrett, who we had on (the show) yesterday, was completely sourced in the story. (Comey) didn’t want to see a story on the front page of The Wall Street Journal with the leaked information. So, he took control and went ahead,” explains Morning Joe senior contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation about the reasoning behind FBI Director James Comey’s decision to send a letter to Congress concerning a new FBI investigation into additional emails tied to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Hear the conversation here.
“There is so much going on in the decision that (FBI director) James Comey made. First of all, I don’t know anyone who has questioned his character, but everyone has questioned his judgement…The other aspect of the decision…is that clearly director Comey said what he said and issued the letter that he issued because he was fearful of losing further control of the FBI apparatus beneath him,” said Morning Joe’s senior contributor Mike Barnicle as the panel further discussed Comey’s decision to send a letter to Congress last week stating that the FBI was investigating additional emails related to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Hear more about the situation here.
