MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” namesake Joe Scarborough declared on Wednesday that he isn’t doing Joe Biden’s bidding amid criticism that the liberal network prefers a moderate Democrat such as the former vice president over Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Scarborough and wife/co-host Mika Brzezinski were discussing which Democratic candidates have the best chance to defeat President Trump in the general election and the duo agreed that Biden offers the best opportunity.
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“If you look at who can go against Trump, Biden wins, right? He’s at the top of the polls,” Brzezinski said.
“Easily,” Scarborough quickly responded.
“Biden provides a contrast, [Mike] Bloomberg, one could argue, is just like Hillary Clinton, where in some key areas, women, big money, entitlement to this whole thing, they cancel each other out,” Brzezinski said. ”Are we setting ourselves up for the same problem?”
Scarborough again agreed and the conversation pivoted to a new poll showing Sanders’ recent surge and Biden in second place.
“There were some people painting scenarios, several months ago, talking about a Biden collapse and said that Bernie could win Iowa, New Hampshire and have the money to go through Super Tuesday, and this Democratic race could be over before it even began,” Scarborough said. “When you look at these California numbers … maybe they were onto something.”
Scarborough then told co-host Willie Geist that he doesn’t see how Sanders could defeat Trump.
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“I could be wrong, I don’t think I am,” Scarborough said. “Joe Biden still easily beats Donald Trump in the only states that matter.”
Scarborough continued to promote Biden as the best option for Democrats.
“This guy's from Scranton, Pa. And I'm not doing his bidding, I'm just telling you the truth. He's from Scranton, Pa. He spent his entire life connecting with the industrial Midwest. That's why Joe Biden is doing so much better in the swing states than anybody else,” Scarborough said.
Meanwhile, Sanders’ campaign manager Faiz Shakir told Vanity Fair in a story published Tuesday that he had "approached" MSNBC president Phil Griffin, recalling from the exchange, "We watched a ton of terrible coverage occurring and we thought we’d at least try to address it."
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Supporters of the Sanders campaign have been quite vocal with their complaints toward MSNBC in recent weeks, with anchor Chuck Todd being repeatedly named. Todd raised eyebrows for asking how Sanders is "considered a front-runner" despite his victory in New Hampshire and his surge in the polls. Todd was also slammed for suggesting that Sanders supporters were a "digital brownshirt brigade," which was condemned by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
“It’s been a struggle to change the tone and the tenor of the coverage that we receive,” Shakir told Vanity Fair. “They’ve been among the last to acknowledge that Bernie Sanders’s path to the nomination is real, and even when it’s become real, they frequently discount it.”
It's not just the Sanders campaign that has had issues with MSNBC. A New Hampshire voter told the network directly that she voted for the Vermont senator because its coverage made her "angry."
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.