MSNBC host Joe Scarborough defended President Joe Biden's mental health in early June, but then reversed course after the CNN-hosted presidential debate.
Scarborough defended Biden while discussing the Wall Street Journal article on “Morning Joe” on June 5. article It featured dozens of Republican and Democrat opinion pieces about Biden's mental state, and on Wednesday claimed Trump was “terrified” about debating Biden. After Thursday night's debate, in which Biden appeared frozen at times and made multiple gaffes, Scarborough struck a different tone, saying “Biden may not be the right guy for the job.” (Related: New York Times: Biden 'friend' tells Biden to withdraw after disastrous debate: 'Heartbreaking moment')
“McCarthy had a habit of saying one thing in public, lying in public, and then privately telling aides the exact opposite: that Biden was astute, persuasive and substantive,” Scarborough said at a June 5 press conference. episode“At the same meeting where Kevin McCarthy told The Wall Street Journal that Biden was absent, Biden stepped outside and told reporters after the meeting that the meeting was 'the best we've had so far. We're making progress, and I'm going to talk to Joe Biden every day,'” the source said.
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Joe Scarborough defended Biden's mental health a few days ago, but now believes he “may not be fit for duty.” pic.twitter.com/8IyPTh9ee7
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 28, 2024
He also mocked Republicans on Wednesday who speculated that Biden would get “agitated” during the debate, saying “that shows how nervous they are.”
“This is not the behavior of a confident person. I've never heard Larry Bird say, 'Hey, I bet Magic Johnson gets high on Mountain Dew,'” Scarborough said.
On Friday morning, Scarborough's tone shifted as he delivered a solemn monologue summing up Biden's performance.
“I know Joe Biden can run a country. I'll debate that with anyone and I'll win. I'll defeat anyone who wants to debate Joe Biden's record over the last three and a half years,” Scarborough said. “He can run the White House… but can he run for president in 2024? Donald Trump lied. Again and again and again. And Joe Biden failed to counter any of those lies. In fact, as The New York Times reported, he spent much of the evening with his mouth agape and his eyes rolling back and forth. He failed to fact-check anything Donald Trump said.”
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“He failed to respond effectively to Donald Trump's attempt to overturn American democracy on January 6th,” Scarborough added. “He failed to respond effectively to Donald Trump's continued lies about his record. And he failed to respond effectively to the issue of abortion, which somehow jumped onto the issue of immigration. And on the issue of immigration, as I said yesterday morning, any Democrat who can't blame his Republican opponent for killing the strongest, toughest border bill in American history, written by a right-wing senator from Oklahoma, may not be the right person for the job.” (RELATED: Jonathan Turley accuses DOJ of using possible 'deepfake' as reason to withhold Biden interview audio)
Mika Brzezinski, co-host of “Morning Joe” and Scarborough's wife, said there was “no way to distort” Biden's performance in the debate.
“Re-watching what happened last night, to me it was horrible,” Brzezinski said. “It was horrible. There's no excuse for it. I still wonder how he's doing a week later. Was he sick? I just thought something was wrong when he came out on stage.”
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