Entries from May 2020
POTUS: Divisive, Destructive, Damaging

“We operate under a slogan, ‘we’re all in this together.’ That is patently not true. It’s not true because we have a president of the United States who is divisive, destructive, damaging….There has never been a president, a leader, who has failed his people, his country, so badly, so miserably, as Donald J. Trump has. All we hear from him is division, divisiveness, damage and cruelty—cruelty from the Oval Office, and that’s where we are,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation with Mika Brzezinski about how President Trump is “missing the moment” to lead the country as the U.S. tops 100,000 deaths due to the coronavirus.

Bipartisan support needed for infrastructure

“On this Memorial Day, we’re sitting in a country, and you just alluded to it, about the dams needing repair. We’re sitting in a country where people claim that America doesn’t build things anymore. You’re not too far from the old Ford Willow Run Plant where in World War II, the B-24 Liberators were coming off the assembly line of that plant at the rate of one per hour. Detroit helping to win the war. What is going on? Why can’t we get an infrastructure bill passed in this country to rebuild America today, in 2020?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) during a Morning Joe conversation about why Congress hasn’t been able to pass infrastructure legislation despite the desperate need for it in the country and what may be the crushing consequences if Democrats and Republicans don’t come together to build resiliency in the infrastructure now.

Grant miniseries on HISTORY starts tonight

Gen. (Ret.) David Petraeus and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow join Morning Joe to discuss Grant, a three-night miniseries about the life and career of the military legend, beginning tonight on HISTORY. “There’s an astounding moment in his military career that I need your help in understanding. The compassion and generosity he showed at the signing of the surrender with Robert E. Lee at the Appomattox Court House: How does that happen?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle. Watch the conversation here.

Opening borders amid the pandemic

NBC News senior international correspondent Keir Simmons joins Mike Barnicle on Morning Joe to report on the “good case study” of Greece, offering an example of for how European countries might deal with the geopolitical tension that goes hand in hand with reopening their borders amid the coronavirus pandemic. Listen to the full report here from London.

Time for national service?

Watch this conversation between Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle and Jeremy Butler, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, about the benefits of a national public service program in our country, where only one percent of the population currently serves in the military. “We have been at war as a nation now for 19 years. Memorial Day used to have much more significance in this nation—three or four decades ago—when there was more familiarity with people who served in wars—in World War II, in Korea. Do you think that this might be a great time (for)…mandatory national public service in this country?” Barnicle asks in seeking a deeper appreciation for those who give back to the country on this Memorial Day.

POTUS’ “self-concocted, self-conceived fantasy world”

“He lives in his own self-concocted, self-conceived fantasy world, and it involves, ‘this state is involved in voter fraud; that state is not involved in voter fraud because it’s going to vote for me.’ It fills his days, his dreams, his made-up numbers about ‘the death count is overrated, it’s underrated.’ It is what it is; you can’t follow him. And Dave, my question to you is, is there any credibility do you think on a national level—after the local level investigates and proves there is no voter fraud? Do Republicans listen to that?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg as the Morning Joe panel discusses President Donald Trump railing against mail-in voting on Twitter despite a GOP investigation in Florida having found there was no voter fraud. Listen to Aronberg’s response here about the notion that Trump is trying to convince Democrats to back off the effort.

Memorial Day 2020, a sacred day

“Memorial Day 2020, a sacred day, especially where I’m from. I grew up at a time when Memorial Day was Memorial Day. There were no sales at Home Depots; there were no large-scale picnics. It was to honor the dead. I grew up in a Gold Star household. My uncle Gerry was killed at Midway, and like all of the people listed yesterday in the Times and all of the people who will be memorialized at cemeteries around this country today, my uncle Gerry, Second Lieutenant Gerald J. Barnicle, killed at Midway on June 4th, 1942, he never died. His memory lived, and he lives today through me—as will all those people who were listed in the Times yesterday. And that’s what Donald Trump fails to grasp,” says Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a conversation with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski about President Donald Trump having spent his Memorial Day weekend golfing in Virginia and attacking his opponents via Twitter, juxtaposed with The New York Times honoring the lives lost to the novel coronavirus with a powerful tribute across the front page of the Sunday paper, filled with the names of the victims and portions of their obituaries.

POTUS: U.S. COVID-19 cases are “badge of honor”

Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle weigh in with final thoughts from today’s show and share their views on President Donald Trump claiming it is “a badge of honor” that the U.S. has the world’s highest number of confirmed COVID-19 infection cases. “Americans used to look to the White House for leadership, for direction, for morality, for support, for emotional support. We no longer can do that,” says Barnicle about the U.S. in the era of President Trump.

China’s economic bubble?

Watch this exchange between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and Anja Manuel, a former official at the U.S. Department of State, responsible for South Asia Policy, about whether China is economically vulnerable due to the coronavirus pandemic. Asks Barnicle: “They’ve contributed enormous sums of money, billions around the world for ports, harbors in Africa and other countries. Is it possible that they are perhaps sitting on their own dangerous economic bubble?” Hear Manuel’s response here.

How to get America back to work

“Is it not the toughest component of opening up the ability to get people back to work in some function? I mean, the dignity of work, the value of work, what it means to a family, obviously the income. How hard is it to differentiate between opening up school systems, athletic facilities or just getting people back to work?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, during a Morning Joe conversation about the process of reopening American after the coronavirus-related lockdowns across the country. Listen to Besser’s response here about how the way forward is slow, methodical and requiring good, comprehensive data systems to understand what’s working and what isn’t.

Who Does Your Dishes?

Watch the reactions from Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle when NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Kasie Hunt asks them what would happen if they told their wives that washing the dishes was solely expected of them, following President Donald Trump wading into the age old debate about the burden of household chores by saying that he would prefer government employees to wash Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s dishes if his wife or son was not there to do so.

Looking Ahead: Inauguration 2021

Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle discuss the “bad politics” of President Donald Trump going into the 2020 presidential election against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. “Would anyone be surprised if, on January 20th, 2021, Joe Biden has beaten Donald Trump, and Donald Trump refuses to go to the inauguration of the incoming president? I would not be surprised at that,” says Barnicle. Watch more of the segment here.

Trump Touting Hydroxychloroquine

Listen in on this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Dr. Vin Gupta and Mike Barnicle as they discuss whether or not President Donald Trump is taking daily doses of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the potential dangers especially for someone of Trump’s age and weight doing so, added to the fact that medical experts and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have warned of its lack of efficacy in treatment of COVID-19 and of its potentially harmful side effects. “We don’t know whether the President just said this to further distort and divide the debate over what’s going on with the virus,” says Barnicle. Join the conversation here.

Barnicle and Buttigieg on Morning Joe

Watch the conversation between Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and Pete Buttigieg, the former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who has endorsed Joe Biden’s run for the presidency against Donald Trump, about the kinds of qualities we should be looking for in our leaders at the presidential, gubernatorial and mayoral levels so we can restore the trust in government and in the leadership of the government.

Dr. Fauci’s Warnings

“Donald Trump, who fancies himself a commander in chief…seems to have forgotten the principle objective of any commander in chief: the safety of his troops or, in this case, the people of this country,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle about President Donald Trump during a conversation with Joe Scarborough about Trump’s criticism of comments Dr. Anthony Fauci made during a congressional hearing about the risks of reopening the country too soon. Watch more of the conversation here. #mikesdailyfruitbowl

Fall: Will Schools Reopen?

Tune in to this Morning Joe conversation between contributor Mike Barnicle and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, as they discuss what it would take to reopen schools this fall for preschool and grade-school age children, which would enable their parents to go back to work in many cases.

POTUS: Support in the White House?

“The thing that I wonder about, and perhaps you can enlighten us, is that the stories, the increasing tonnage of stories, that we get about the President’s behavior—about his conduct, about his verbal conduct, denying everything that we can see with our own eyes—the source of many of these stories are repeated leaks from within the White House….What kind of support does he have among the White House staff?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Associated Press White House reporter Jonathan Lemire as the Morning Joe panel discusses President Donald Trump and his administration’s handling of the deadly and devastating coronavirus outbreak in America. Listen to Lemire’s response here. Only on MSNBC.

Hope over Hate

Join this Morning Joe conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and writer Anand Giridharadas about the growth of tribalism in America, further impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and the possibility that among the outcomes or silver linings could be a political reset that leads to systemic change. “I also have hope now,” Giridharadas said. Watch more of the discussion now.

The Facts are Scary and Threatening

“The President is afraid of facts. He doesn’t like facts because the facts are really scary and threatening to him,” said Morning Joe contributor and veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a conversation with Willie Geist about the disturbing facts President Donald J. Trump does not want to face about the number of people who have died and continue to die, are sick, and have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak in America. Watch more of their conversation now.