During a discussion about Jeb Bush’s early struggles in the 2016 presidential campaign, Morning Joe co-host Mike Brzezinski slammed the former Florida governor for being a “hypocrite about all his money.”
Joe Scarborough suggested that Bush needs to get ahead of the problems by “announc[ing] that [he’s] running, tell the world who Jeb Bush is.” This sparked Brzezinski, who seemed to indicate that Bush was acting like a hypocrite because he is raising money before any official announcement. Scarborough ignored her and added that Bush needs to “define himself instead of letting everybody else define him.”
The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein attempted to explain Bush’s plan for the coming months: “Part of the strategy here is to have a hundred million dollars in the bank so that when you do jump in, you can define yourself a little bit more forcefully.”
Still not seeming to get the basic dynamic of modern politics, Brzezinski used her signature snarky tone to declare, “yeah, but he hasn’t jumped in. He’s not running, so we shouldn’t talk about him.” Scarborough pointed out that Scott Walker has not yet formally announced either, but that still would not settle the Morning Joe co-host.
She ended the conversation by blasting Bush for supposedly going back and forth on the issue: “Well, Jeb, by mistake, said ‘I’m running – oops I’m not, but I am, but I’m not,’ because he knows he’s playing the game. It’s a total joke.”
The relevant portion of the transcript is below.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
June 1, 2015
6:33 a.m. EasternMIKA BRZEZINSKI, host: Al Hunt, Bloomberg has new polling out of Iowa. Let’s take a look at the GOP side. Scott Walker in the lead at 17%. See, I'm not surprised by this. Are you, Al?
AL HUNT, Bloomberg: No, he solidified his position in Iowa very impressively in the last couple months. He's not only in the lead, but if you look at questions like favorable/unfavorable, 66 to 11. He really is in a good position. Caveat, of course, four years ago Michele Bachmann was in a good position. But Scott Walker really is where he wants to be now. The other – two other interesting things in that poll. One, the candidate with the most potential to grow is Marco Rubio. He’s only fifth at 6%, but he's second among – first, rather, among second choices. Marco Rubio has a lot of room to grow and it just gets worse and worse for Jeb Bush out there. It's not just that he finishes a distant fourth at 9% behind even Ben Carson, but when you ask Republicans [if] you have a favorable or unfavorable view, Joe, you can really appreciate this, 45% of Republicans have an unfavorable view of Jeb Bush. 35% stay they would never even consider voting for him. Those are bad numbers.
JOE SCARBOROUGH, host: Yeah, they’re gonna have to jump out, Sam Stein, because Jeb Bush, who
once you see Jeb Bush out and you learn that Jeb's not his brother. You learn that Jeb is as smart as anybody in politics let alone in this field and they have just been defined. They need to get out, announce that they’re running, tell the world who Jeb Bush is.
BRZEZINSKI: Stop being a hypocrite about all his money.
SCARBOROUGH: And I think they are gonna get out there pretty quickly and he’s gonna define himself instead of letting everybody else define him.
SAM STEIN, Huffington Post: Part of the strategy here is to have a hundred million dollars in the bank so that when you do jump in, you can define yourself a little bit more forcefully.
BRZEZINSKI: Yeah, but he hasn’t jumped in. He’s not running, so we shouldn’t talk about him.
STEIN: I guess not.
BRZEZINKSI: It’s such a – look at the New York Times. Read the non-candidate money spigot editorial.
STEIN: Oh, it’s a joke. Yeah, obviously – obviously he’s running. His whole point, though, is to have that much money in the bank so that when he does actually jump in, everything that’s been said about him can be erased. The question that he has to grapple with is, is it too late?
SCARBOROUGH: Has Scott Walker formally announced, though?
STEIN: No, Scott Walker hasn’t formally announced.
SCARBOROUGH: I mean, we’ve got a guy in first place in this poll who hasn’t formally announced. Not all of them have formally announced, so it’s not just Jeb.
BRZEZINSKI: Well, Jeb, by mistake, said ‘I’m running – oops I’m not, but I am, but I’m not,’ because he knows he’s playing the game. It’s a total joke.
