David McIntosh, President of the conservative political advocacy group The Club for Growth, joins Morning Joe and talks with Mike Barnicle about his organization’s efforts to stop Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from becoming the party’s nominee. “Part of your theory would lead many experts to believe that Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) would lose more states in the fall than would Donald Trump. So, why not go after Ted Cruz on an equal basis?,” asks Mike. Listen to McIntosh explain why his organization is anti-Trump and supports Senator Cruz.
On Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle illustrates the unexpected nature of the 2016 presidential elections that turned anti-establishment rather quickly. “On the cover of TIME magazine was Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), ‘the most interesting man in American politics.’ He’s now working at a post office some place. He disappeared months ago. Step outside and ask anybody you bump into, ‘what do you think about the presidential election?’ And they say, ‘I’m trying to figure it out between Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump.’ And the reason they’re thinking Sanders or Trump is because all of the others are just asterisks to them,” says Mike of this surprising election season. Watch the discussion on MSNBC.
“The length of American presidential campaigns lends to absurdity in the coverage. It’s absurd, the way we now cover these things. I understand it because we are as exhausted as the voters are exhausted, as the candidates are exhausted,” says Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle of the current media fixation on the presidential campaign, particularly allegations of Nazi salutes at Republican candidate Donald Trump’s rallies and Democratic candidate Senator Bernie Sanders’ use of the word “ghetto.” Listen to Mike’s comments here on the relationship between the media and politics in 2016.
In his latest column for The Daily Beast, Mike Barnicle writes about the not-so-surprising success of presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders, who are appealing to the prevailing mood of people living in small towns, medium size cities and rural enclaves across America, who have been abandoned or marginalized by the system. Read Mike’s entire column on why and how the two candidates, as contrary as they are, are reaching folks whose “voices are not heard, where dreams are now nearly dead, where a generation of hard work and solid wages have been hollowed out or stolen as the establishment sat on its hands unwilling to fight an economic system geared to satisfying shareholders before addressing the real needs of families that once thought they were on a level playing field, the future is now filled with dread instead of a dream.”
As the federal investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s email use as U.S. Secretary of State continues, Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle sums up the campaign’s predictable response: “What they will say is that they’re glad Bryan Pagliano [the former State Department staffer who set-up Clinton’s private email server] is testifying with immunity because they view his testimony as perhaps being favorable to Hillary Clinton’s case… but the time table of this issue popping up is certainly unhelpful in the public’s eye.” Listen to the Morning Joe panel’s comments on the latest developments surrounding Clinton’s email scandal here.
On Morning Joe, each member of this morning’s panel weighs in on the coverage of leading Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and whether or not he’s been treated fairly or favorably by the media. Host Mika Brzezinski says: “Trump became a big story and we’ve asked him tough questions every step of the way and I have the transcripts to prove it.” Bret Stephens, foreign affairs columnist and deputy editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal, says: “He’s gotten tremendous free coverage. And now we all have to look at this situation and say let’s stop it before a disaster is inflicted on this country.” Mika asks veteran journalist and columnist Mike Barnicle to mediate. What do you think?
Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle asks TIME magazine’s Nancy Gibbs about the decision to put Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on the cover for the second time this election season. “Trump, despite what you might think of him ideologically, remains a truly fascinating character,” comments Mike, referring to journalist David Von Drehle’s piece on Trump in the magazine. Watch the panel discussion on the role the media has had in helping to propel Trump toward the nomination, including The Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens’ strongly worded comments.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle asks leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump about the controversy surrounding his now-defunct Trump University and the lawsuit filed against him by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. “Has Schneiderman offered you a settlement? For people unfamiliar with Trump University, how did it work?,” asks Mike. Listen in on the conversation between Mike and Trump and hear why Trump’s doesn’t want to settle the case.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle sums up leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s success—not without controversy—in simple terms: “Over the past eight years, the [Republicans] running for President today, all of them with the exception of Donald J. Trump, have skipped over the opportunity to talk about what happened to the American family in the winter of 2008 and 2009 when the economy shattered, and too many of them lost their hope. And for some reason, you go figure, Trump is addressing those anxieties.”
“It seems as if the only way to approach Donald Trump is to have a Joseph N. Welch vs. Senator Joseph McCarthy moment as occurred in the U.S. Senate—but who’s the messenger?,” asks Mike Barnicle of the Republican party’s own attempts to stop Trump from being their presidential candidate. Listen to Mike and the Morning Joe panel’s comments on the latest “Stop Trump” efforts.
On Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle and former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey discuss Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s ongoing email server investigation. “Why has it taken so long for the Justice Department to grant [Bryan Pagliano, the former State Department staffer who set-up Clinton’s private email server] immunity?,” asks Mike. Listen to Mukasey’s analysis on MSNBC.
“Despite all of this nonsensical talk about the Club for Growth and other organizations pumping $20-30 million into some campaign against Donald Trump, doesn’t it really come down to Florida and Ohio, and Senator Marco Rubio and Governor John Kasich?,” Mike Barnicle asks former chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele about the realities of his party’s efforts to stop frontrunner Donald Trump’s nomination. Hear what Steele has to say on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
Ahead of tonight’s Republican presidential debate on Fox News, Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle and Bloomberg Politics’ Mark Halperin discuss former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s attack on the current Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. Watch the conversation unfold here.
On Morning Joe’s final segment of the day, following Super Tuesday’s election results, Mike Barnicle describes the state of the Republican party and its losing battle with candidate Donald Trump: “If you look up the definition of ‘impotence’ in the dictionary, it says “: the Republican establishment.” Watch the discussion on lessons learned and find out how 2016 is a lot like the 1972 Robert Redford film “The Candidate,” which features Mike.
“How does the issue of wage stagnation, which I think is the biggest underlying economic issue, play out in an election?,” Mike Barnicle asks CNBC’s Brian Sullivan of a possible general presidential election between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. Listen to Sullivan’s analysis on the labor union members’ impact on the election and the Morning Joe conversation about Super Tuesday election results.
As Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton continues to pile up delegates toward the nomination, Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle sums up her efforts, demonstrated by Super Tuesday’s results. “The Massachusetts victory really proves a lot about Hillary Clinton’s strength. She came from behind to catch (Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders). Bernie had been in that state for quite some time, had a great organization and a pretty good lead,” observes Mike of Clinton’s win against Sanders (I-VT) in Massachusetts. Watch the panel’s discussion about the contest between Hillary and Bernie for the Democratic presidential nomination here.
